July 1, 2011_nWLP 6/28/11 10:10 AM Page 1
Inside
Official
Meeting Notices
See
Page 6
Have a Safe & Happy
4th of July!
Volume 112
Number 13
July 1, 2011
Portland, Oregon
For Korea, Colombia, and Panama
Congress could vote on free trade deals this month
When he was a candidate for president in 2008, Barack
Obama led union audiences to believe he was critical of the
North American Free Trade Agreement and that he opposed a
threesome of NAFTA-style trade agreements that President
George W. Bush had negotiated with Korea, Colombia and
Panama. Then last year, Obama announced he would ask Con-
gress to ratify the Korea agreement after all. Now it appears he
will submit all three treaties to Congress for an up-or-down vote
without the possibility of amendment. Depending on the out-
come of behind-the-scenes negotiations with House and Senate
leaders, the treaties could be voted on this month before Con-
gress leaves town for its August recess.
If so, time is running out for working people to tell members
of Congress what they think. The AFL-CIO opposes all three
agreements, both in general and for specific reasons. Labor lead-
ers blame NAFTA-style trade policies for America’s disastrous
de-industrialization and resultant trade deficit, because the
treaties make it easier for U.S. corporations to outsource manu-
By DON McINTOSH
Associate Editor
or countless unions, the annual
summertime picnic is a time-hon-
ored tradition. Picnics give members a
chance to socialize off the job with co-
workers and their families, and bring
union members together as a commu-
nity. They’re also a way for members
to get better acquainted with their
union, even if they’re not regular atten-
dees at union membership meetings.
And they create memories for kids,
putting unions in a positive light for a
younger generation.
This year in the Portland area, union
picnic season gets under way next
weekend, continues throughout the
summer, culminates Labor Day with
the area’s biggest union picnic (the
Northwest Oregon Labor Council pic-
nic at Oaks Park), and wraps up the
weekend after that for several unions.
Blue Lake Park and Oaks Park are
the favored locations for Portland-area
union picnics. Blue Lake Park — situ-
ated between Marine Drive and Sandy
Boulevard off Northeast 223rd Avenue
— has swimming, fishing, boating,
sports, horseshoes, playgrounds, and a
water “spray ground.” Oaks Park, oc-
cupying 44 acres along the Willamette
River just north of the Sellwood
Bridge, is a historic amusement park
with games and carnival rides, go carts,
facturing and services to low-wage countries and to import for-
eign-made goods.
The trade treaties are based on the model of NAFTA, the trade
agreement that has covered the United States, Mexico, and
Canada since 1994. NAFTA gives powerful rights to multina-
tional corporations and foreign investors, while doing nothing
meaningful to protect workers’ rights or the natural environment.
Chiefly, NAFTA-style trade treaties expand patent, trademark,
and copyright monopolies; give foreign investors the right to
challenge domestic regulations via unaccountable trade panels;
and cut or eliminate import tariffs. [Import tariffs are taxes on
imported goods; they shield domestic industries from direct com-
petition with foreign competitors, and give domestic workers
some protection from their own companies’ desire to offshore
production.]
Of the three, the Korea agreement will have the biggest im-
pact, because South Korea has a large, advanced economy, and a
very competitive automotive manufacturing industry. The
Panama agreement is objectionable for other reasons: The coun-
try is a hub of offshore finance and shipping, a site of low-wage
manufacturing, and a source of drug money laundering and tax
evasion.
But it’s the Colombia agreement that may be the most offen-
sive to organized labor. Colombia is the most dangerous nation in
the world for trade union activists. In the past 25 years, more
than 2,850 trade unionists have been murdered — mostly by
right-wing paramilitary gunmen working with employers to op-
pose union activity. Last year, 51 trade unionists were murdered
in Colombia, more than in the rest of the world combined.
“We have no doubt that if 51 CEOs had been murdered in
Colombia last year, this deal would be on a very slow track in-
deed,” declared AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka in an April
6 press statement.
In a 12-foot by 15-foot office in the historic Board of Trade
office building in downtown Portland, Arthur Stamoulis has his
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the largest roller skating rink on West
Coast, and a new 18-hole miniature
golf course. Skating is included with
all-day ride bracelets, which are usu-
ally sold at a discount for union pic-
nickers. There’s separate admission for
go carts.
Following is a partial list of union
picnics that will take place this summer:
F
How to tell summer is here:
It’s union
picnic season
IBEW 48
International Brotherhood of Elec-
trical Workers Local 48 will have the
first Portland-area picnic of the season,
for members and their families, July 10
at Oaks Park. The picnic draws 1,800
each year. Last year, 60 volunteers
made it all happen, says business agent
and picnic chairperson Nancy Cary.
Amusement park rides are a main at-
traction: Kids 16 and under get free
ride bracelets, and discounted ride
bracelets are available for $7 for those
17 and up. There’s also bingo and a raf-
fle, with bikes and other prizes for kids
and grownups. And facepainting. And a
clown (Local 48 member Jose Spon-
berg). Food is traditional picnic fare:
hamburgers, hot dogs ice cream, chips,
and pop. The picnic goes from 11 a.m.
to 3 p.m.
IAM 63
Machinists Local 63 has been hold-
ing a picnic for members and families
at Oaks Park for at least five decades,
says District W24 Assistant Directing
Business Representative Bob Petroff.
Petroff’s dad was a Local 63 officer, so
his childhood memories loom large
with the contests, rides, and all-you-
can-drink soda pop. Over the years,
some things have changed, Petroff says.
The beauty pageant is no more. The
penny scramble (in which children root
through sawdust to find and keep pen-
nies) is now a nickel scramble, thanks
to inflation, and straw has replaced the
sawdust. [Note to the younger genera-
tion: Any kid finding a poker chip gets a
prize.]
But some things are eternal. The
union picnic hot dog. The three-legged
race. Bingo. Oaks Parks rides.
About 3,000 attend each year. This
year’s picnic is July 16, from 10 a.m. to
5 p.m. Hamburgers will be served from
11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.; hot dogs, chili
and chips from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.;
and soda, coffee, and ice cream will be
served throughout. A raffle raises
money for the Machinists Non-Partisan
Political League and the union-spon-
sored charity Guide Dogs of America.
Games start at 11 a.m. for kids and
grownups. Amusement park rides are
from noon to 2 p.m. and 3 to 5 p.m.
Kids 18 and under ride free, and adult
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