Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 7, 2011)
Wright retires at Bricklayers Local 1; Eleazer new business manager he served on the union’s Keith Wright has retired brick arbitration board as business manager of and as sergeant-at-arms Bricklayers and Allied before being hired as a Craftworkers Local 1. He business agent and or- has held the post since De- ganizer in July 1994 by cember 2005. His last day then-business manager was Aug. 31. John Mohlis. Local 1 represents some Local 6 merged into 600 brick, tile, and marble Local 1 in 1993. workers, and caulkers, point- Wright was appointed ers, and cleaners in Oregon interim business man- and Southwest Washington. ager in 2005 after Mohlis Wright, 59, worked as a was elected executive bricklayer for 16 years, K EITH W RIGHT secretary-treasurer of the starting as an apprentice at Eugene-based Local 6. He grew up in a Columbia Pacific Building Trades union household in Flint, Michigan, Council. Wright was elected outright a where his late-father worked at General few months later, and has served two 3- Motors and retired as a member of the year terms. During his tenure, he has United Auto Workers. An older brother seen the highs and lows of the construc- also retired from GM and is a member tion industry. The local took a hit fol- lowing the Great Recession of 2008, ex- of the UAW. Wright performed odd jobs in periencing 30 percent unemployment Michigan, including work as a hod car- for close to two years. “Work is returning,” Wright said. rier. With no career plan in mind, he de- cided to move to Oregon in 1978 (he Unemployment at the local is currently had visited Eugene several years earlier at less than 10 percent, with two large and liked it). After arriving to the state jobs — a new high school in Sandy, he got on the phone and started dialing Oregon, and a hospital in Salem just for a job. He found one in the brick about completed. Wright said he is most proud of a dis- trade, and at age 26 he got plugged into an apprenticeship training program and ability benefit he helped bargain into the Bricklayers’ collective bargaining agree- joined Bricklayers Local 6. In 1984 he moved to Portland, trans- ment, in addition to a labor-management ferring his union card to Local 1. There, cooperation compliance committee that at several children’s centers. was established in a col- In retirement, Wright plans lective bargaining agree- to reacquaint himself to steel- ment ratified earlier this head fishing and hunting. He’s year. already booked a deer and elk “We’ll do our own hunting trip in Montana this compliance; BOLI month. [Oregon Bureau of La- Local 1’s Executive Board bor and Industries] appointed Matt Eleazer to won’t have to do it,” he complete the remainder of said. Wright’s term as business Wright said increases manager. The term expires in in contributions to the June 2012. local’s market recovery Eleazer, 32, is a 14-year program also will help M ATT E LEAZER member of Local 1 and likely signatory contractors the youngest business manager of that bid jobs and increase market share. Wright is a strong proponent of ap- trade in the country. He was serving his prenticeship training, and was chair of second term as president of the local and the Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers was working full-time as a business Joint Apprenticeship Training Commit- agent and organizer when Wright an- tee. As business manager, he also served nounced his plans to retire. A native of Vancouver, Wash., on all the union trusts, on the Construc- tion Industry Drugfree Workplace Pro- Eleazer joined the Bricklayers appren- gram, and was a vice president on the ticeship program after graduating from Oregon, Washington, Idaho State Con- Hudson’s Bay High School. A neighbor and Local 1 member helped get him his ference. Wright said he will continue serving first job at Bratton Masonry, where he as a trustee to the health and welfare worked until 2005, when Mohlis hired him to work for the union. trust, and the pension trusts. “I wanted to be a game warden, but I In keeping with the tradition of Lo- cal 1, Wright helped spearhead many saw what kind of money they were mak- volunteer community projects, includ- ing in the trades and decided to go in that ing tiling work for Homes For Our direction,” Eleazer said. Eleazer’s father, Ed, is a recently-re- Troops, building baseball dugouts for lo- cal high schools, and expansion projects tired member of Floor Coverers Local Teamsters Dental Center 1890 NE 162nd Ave. Portland, OR 1236. A cousin, Dave Winkler, is the business agent for Local 1236. Mike Titus was appointed by the Ex- ecutive Board to complete the unexpired term as president of Local 1. Titus also was hired to succeed Eleazer as a busi- ness agent and organizer. “We have a good team,” Eleazer said. “Mike, Shawn (apprenticeship coordi- nator Shawn Lenczowski) and I work really well together. I’m also very thank- ful that Keith left no secrets. He’s in- volved me in every step of the process.” Eleazer is a newlywed and lives in Battle Ground, Washington. He is an avid outdoorsman who likes to hunt and fish whenever the opportunity arises. He also owns a horse and competes in team roping. Baska Memorial Fund set Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local 1 has set up the “Scott M. Baska Memorial Fund” to help the children of Baska, who died in his sleep Sept. 20 of a brain aneurysm. He was 36. A single father of three young daugh- ters, Baska joined the union in 2004 and was an active member. Last November he completed the Bricklayer apprentice- ship program. Donations can be made at IBEW United Workers Federal Credit Union, 9955 SE Washington St., Portland. You don’t have to be a Teamster to enjoy the benefits of our dentists 503-257-9836 WE OFFER A COMPLETE RANGE OF QUALITY SERVICES WITH LITTLE OR NO OUT OF POCKET COSTS TO YOU *: PHOTOSTOCK • Comprehensive Exam and Diagnosis • Tooth-Colored Fillings • Porcelain Veneers • Crown & Bridge • Dentures & Partials • Root Canal Therapy • Invisialign • Implants • Oral Surgery, IV & Oral Sedation • Cosmetic Dentistry • Complimentary Second Opinion * Depending on your insurance plan $100 credit towards any dental procedure (Limit one per person) OCTOBER 7, 2011 Expires 10/31/2011 11103 SE Main St., Suite B, Milwaukie 503-654-0613 9 Monroe Parkway, Suite C Lake Oswego 503-635-3431 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS serving you at four additional locations 8070 SW Hall Blvd. Beaverton 503-644-1110 570 SE Baseline Rd. Hillsboro 503-844-0777 PAGE 3
