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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (July 1, 2011)
July 1, 2011_nWLP 6/28/11 10:10 AM Page 7 AFL-CIO’s Union Summer returns to Portland Five PSU students take part in national AFL-CIO’s summer internship program Portland has been selected one of eight cities to host Union Summer, a 10-week national AFL-CIO internship program for college students. Staff of the national AFL-CIO Or- ganizing Institute recruited 45 college student interns, who are taking part in local organizing campaigns in Los An- geles, Milwaukee, Washington, D.C., New Orleans, Ft. Lauderdale, Charlotte, Twin Cities, and Portland. Their first week, June 13 to 17, was spent in orientation in Washington, D.C., where they met with AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler and Washington, D.C. Central Labor Coun- cil President Joslyn Williams and learned about organizing and one-on- one communication from national AFL-CIO staff. The interns receive a $350-a-week stipend for participation — plus travel, lodging, and meals while they’re in D.C. To reduce expenses, the program recruited interns in the cities they’ll be working in. So recruiters from the na- tional AFL-CIO spent a week at Port- JULY 1, 2011 land State University, working with pro- fessors and giving class presentations. As a result, three PSU juniors and two graduating seniors are taking part — Jil- lian Balderson, Tiffany Dollar, Kelsey Jorgenson, Lolita Lincoln, and Patrice Mays. Jorgensen is working with Commu- nication Workers of America Local 7901 in its campaign to get a first con- tract for workers at Dosha Salon Spa. Dollar is aiding the Oregon School Em- ployees Association in a widening dis- pute with multinational school bus con- tractor First Student. Balderson, Lincoln, and Mays are helping Oregon AFSCME on an organizing campaign. Lincoln, a Seattle native, says the controversies across the nation over ed- S TAT OF THE M ONTH How broken has the “alternative minimum tax” become? Congress created this tax over four decades ago to ensure that America’s rich, after loopholes, pay at least some of their income in federal income tax. In 2008, new IRS data show, 10,824 tax- payers reported over $200,000 in in- come and paid no taxes on that in- come either to Uncle Sam or any other country. ucation and teachers’ rights like the bat- tle in Wisconsin caused her to want to find out more about how the union movement affects people’s daily lives. “No matter if you’re a nurse or a doctor or a teacher, no matter whoever you are, we’re all just one community and it’s important for me to be part of a movement that empowers people,” Lin- coln said. On Aug. 18, the interns will return to Washington, D.C, for a debrief. NALC food drive collects 70.6 million pounds nationwide The National Association of Letter Carriers’ (NALC) annual “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive — the biggest sin- gle food drive in the U.S. — collected 70.6 million pounds of food nationwide on May 14, just short of the all-time yearly record set in 2010, the union said. NALC President Fredric Rolando thanked postal customers for chipping in so generously and his union’s mem- bers for collecting the food. It went to local food pantries, soup kitchens and similar food services. Some 50 million people, one-third of them children, de- pend on those organizations. “Six days a week, Letter Carriers see first-hand the needs in communities. We’re privileged to be able to help the needy and to lead an effort that brings out the best in so many Americans,” Rolando said. “The slight downturn is NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS related to the tough economy, which makes the drive all the more important.” That’s especially true in summer months, when schools are closed and federally-provided breakfasts and lunches are unavailable for needy chil- dren, added NALC Community Serv- ice Director Linda Giordano, the food drive coordinator. Preliminary union figures show NALC West Coast Florida Branch 1477 led all branches, collecting 1,770,814 pounds of food. It was followed by Branch 599 in Tampa (1,729,382 pounds), Branch 458 in Oklahoma City (1,485,118), Branch 3 in Buffalo (1,383,220), and Branch 1100 in Gar- den Grove, Calif. (1,112,083). NALC Branch 82 in Portland brought in 557,513 pounds of food. Throughout Oregon and Southwest Washington, 1.4 million pounds of food was collected. Motorcycle poker run fundraiser for Guide Dogs Aug. 27 The 5th annual Guide Dogs Dash motorcycle poker run will be held Sat- urday, Aug. 27. The event, sponsored by Machinists Lodge 63, will start from 8:30 to 10 a.m. at Pro Caliber Motorsports, 10703 NE Fourth Plain Road,Vancouver, and finish at Love Leathers Outpost in Ridgefield. Riders. Registration is $25 per rider and $10 per passenger. All proceeds go to Guide Dogs of America. For more information, go on line to www.iamll64.org. Guide Dogs golf tourney Sept. 12 The 23rd annual Machinists District W24 Guide Dogs of America Golf Tournament is slated for Monday, Sept. 12, at Heron Lakes Golf Club in Port- land. Tee-off is at 8:30 a.m. Corporate and union sponsorships are available starting at $250 and top- ping out at $1,000. Entry to the golf tournament is $125 per golfer. All proceeds benefit Guide Dogs of America. For more information, contact Dan Sass at 503-238-5550 or John Hall at 503-449-0969. PAGE 7
