Inside
Meeting Notices
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Page 4
Volume 113
Number 5
March 2, 2012
Portland, Oregon
National comics, AFL-CIO wrap up three days
of events for Work Connects Us All campaign
Activities included free
comedy show and ‘thank-
a-worker’ events during
Portland Jazz Fest
Capitol rally: ‘Save Public Service’
How should the Oregon Legislature cover a $340 million revenue shortfall?
Not with layoffs and service cuts, said more than 1,000 public employees and
their allies at a Presidents Day rally Feb. 20 on the front steps of the state
capitol in Salem. The “Day of Action for a Strong Oregon” was coordinated
by the Oregon Education Association, but included members from AFSCME,
Service Employees, the Oregon School Employees Association, the American
Federation of Teachers, parent-teacher organizations, and other groups.
National AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler, who hails from Portland,
also attended. Rallygoers called on lawmakers to protect funding for
education and social services and to maintain prisons, and thus protect
middle-class jobs. In the photo above, Linda Peterson of AFSCME Local 3214
(Albertina Kerr/Eugene), Berely Mack of Local 1246 (State Operated
Community Program, a service that provides 24-hour care and supervision to
people with developmental disabilities and are a risk to others), and Mack’s
cousin, Elicia David, were among the throng of people at the rally. The
Legislature had not adjourned as this issue went to press, but it appeared that
further cuts to K-12 education and in-home care to seniors and people with
disabilities were spared, and no prisons will close. (Photo by Don Loving.)
Portland working families, national
comics from Laughing Liberally, and
the Oregon AFL-CIO wrapped three
days of events, workshops, and actions
Feb. 19-21 as part of the AFL-CIO’s
new Work Connects Us All campaign.
The effort is part of a broader push by
the AFL-CIO to recognize the ways in
which work connects everyone, and the
value of each person’s contribution
through work.
The collaboration between Laugh-
ing Liberally and the AFL-CIO had sev-
eral components, including a comedy
show as well as comedy trainings for
activists and a campaign at the Portland
Jazz Fest to “thank” workers for their
help in making the festival a success.
The events kicked off on Sunday,
Feb. 19 with “Laughter Works,” a free
show at Helium Comedy Club that fea-
tured a line-up of nationally-renowned
comedians, including Lee Camp (who
has appeared on Showtime and is a con-
tributor to The Onion), Negin Farsad
(who has appeared on Comedy Central
Comedian Negin Farsad had a
packed house in Portland in stitches
Feb. 19 at a free comedy show hosted
by the Oregon AFL-CIO. The event
is part of the “Work Connects Us
All” campaign launched last month.
(Photo by Russell Sanders.)
and MTV), and Katie Halper (who has
appeared on MSNBC and Huffington
Post), as well as local Portland comedi-
ans.
A crowd of 350 attended the show,
which focused not only on politics but
work and how work is the tie that binds
all Americans together.
Activities continued into the week
with workshops run by Camp, Farsad
and Halper for local organizers on us-
ing humor in their work to reach new
audiences and best practices on Twitter
to assist with organizing campaigns.
On Feb. 20 and 21, the comedians,
along with Working America can-
vassers, distributed “thank you” cards
to stagehands, ticket-takers, and other
workers involved in the Portland Jazz
Festival. Participants distributed hun-
dreds of cards throughout the two days
to highlight the behind-the-scenes work
that is often not recognized but is vital
to the festival’s success.
The events come on the heels of the
launch of the Work Connects Us All
campaign, with television ad buys in
Portland, Pittsburgh, and Austin, Tex.,
as well as an online component with an
interactive website at www.WorkCon-
nectsUsAll.org, and outreach in com-
munities to spark innovative initiatives
and new community partnerships.
Milwaukie light rail line creates jobs
“I love seeing those cranes on the
skyline,” smiled John Mohlis, executive
secretary of the Oregon State Building
and Construction Trades Council.
Mohlis was speaking at a press confer-
ence Feb. 23 to recognize the Portland-
Milwaukie light rail transit project for
paving the way for much-needed con-
struction jobs in the metro area.
TriMet began work last April on the
$1.5 billion project, which includes a
cable-stay bridge over the Willamette
River. Estimates forecast the project
will create up to 14,500 jobs by the time
it is completed in September 2015. This
estimate includes 7,122 jobs working
directly on the project, such as con-
struction workers, planners, designers,
and engineers. It also includes up to
7,370 indirect or induced jobs, such as
positions at suppliers of materials (steel,
concrete, wood, and more.) Induced
jobs are jobs created by the spending of
wages for items such as groceries, gas,
restaurants, and entertainment.
“Thank you for helping to build a
better future. We’ve been woefully un-
deremployed in our region,” said Jodi
Guetzloe Parker, executive secretary of
the Columbia Pacific Building Trades
Council. “Being able to take care of
ourselves is a huge matter of pride for
us,” she said. “We’re blue collar. We’re
proud of who we are. We’re proud of
what we do, and we want to keep help-
ing Portland grow and expand.”
Also speaking at the press confer-
ence organized by TriMet were project
contractors, workers, Portland Mayor
Sam Adams, and Congressmen Earl
Blumenauer and Kurt Schrader.
“I’m asked all the time, what can
government do to get the jobs going, get
the economy going,” said Schrader,
who represents Clackamas and portions
of Multnomah counties. “I truly believe
the President (Obama) is right on the
money when he talks about infrastruc-
ture investment. That’s jobs just not
now, but into the future for our kids and
grandkids. This type of investment is
huge. The multiplier effect in the com-
munity is huge, at a time when we’re
struggling.”
Blumenauer called the Milwaukie
line the next great portion of our light
rail system. “What I like is, we’ve had
the vision as a community, the leader-
ship and the skills in the construction in-
dustry, to keep going,” he said. “We’ve
never really stopped since 1982.”
Jaci Lyn Hayden, a University of
Portland civil engineering grad working
on the project, said when the line opens
in 2015, “It’s going to start an entire
other phase of economic development.
By Portland making an investment in
light rail, we’re making an investment
in our future.”
Jodi Guetzloe Parker, executive secretary of the Columbia Pacific Building
Trades Council, speaks at a “Jobs for Oregon” press conference Feb. 23 to
recognize the Portland-Milwaukie light rail transit project and the jobs it is
creating. Standing behind her at the east end of the light-rail bridge
construction project near OMSI are Portland Mayor Sam Adams and
Maurice Rahming, owner of union contractor O’Neil Electric. Several
politicians, contractors, workers, and union officials attended the event.