Labor songwriter, activist Harry Stamper dies
NORTH BEND — Several hundred
workers and families packed the Inter-
national Longshore and Warehouse
Union (ILWU) Local 12 Hall in North
Bend on March 17 to honor longshore
worker and songwriter H ARRY S TAM -
PER , J R ., who died of a heart attack
March 9 at his home in Charleston,
Oregon. He was 67.
Welcoming the crowd, Stamper’s
daughter Anna announced, “This is a
sad day, but a celebration.”
And so it was.
Bill Bradbury, retired Oregon secre-
tary of state, described Stamper as
“…an awfully fun person, but he was
damned serious about changing the po-
litical structure so it serves us and not
the corporations.”
Past and present faculty of the La-
bor Education Center at the University
of Oregon (LERC) wrote they were
proud of Harry as “Our guy from Ore-
gon, the best labor folksinger/song-
writer around.”
The Low Tide Drifters band led a set
of Stamper’s songs, including his fa-
mous anthem of the occupational
health and safety movement: “We Just
Come to Work Here; We Don’t Come
to Die.” The song has been recognized
as a part of American labor and folk
music history by Smithsonian Folk-
ways Recordings, the nonprofit record
label of the Smithsonian Institution.
Other musician friends of Stamper
played on through the afternoon.
H ARRY S TANFORD S TAMPER , J R .
was born Sept. 20, 1944, in Roanoke,
Va.
He lived in the San Francisco Bay
Area in the early 1970s, and worked as
a longshoreman for more than 37
years. He was a longtime member of
ILWU Local 12.
He married Holly Hall in 1985.
They had two daughters, Anna Brown
and Nell Ero.
Stamper is survived by his wife and
daughters; three grandchildren; his
mother, Viola; two brothers, and three
sisters.
In lieu of flowers, Stamper’s family
suggests contributions to the ILWU
Auxiliary,12064 Sherman Ave., North
Bend, OR 97459; or Waterfall Clinic,
1890 Waite St., North Bend, OR
97459.
(Editor’s Note: Special correspon-
dent Stefan Ostrach of Eugene con-
tributed to this report.)
Forgive us our trespasses
(and we’ll forgive those who’ve
trespassed against us)
To protest abuses at Dosha Salon Spa, protesters from
Portland Jobs with Justice briefly occupied Aveda Insti-
tute Portland Feb. 7. The two businesses share an owner.
Dosha workers voted March 2011 to join Communica-
tions Workers of America (CWA) Local 7901, but the
company has continued to persecute union supporters, in-
cluding several who were fired.
Though Aveda managers called police during the
takeover, no arrests were made.
But afterward, they filed charges, singling out CWA
Local 7901 President Madelyn Elder (pictured right) and
Jobs with Justice activist Laurie King, among the 80 or so
protesters.
On April 2, Elder and King pled guilty to second de-
gree criminal trespass and second degree disorderly con-
duct.
“Having acted in support of workers rights to bargain
collectively, she will accept the consequences,” attorney
Noah Horst told the community court judge for each case.
Each was sentenced to 16 hours of community service.
APRIL 6, 2012
M ARTY B LAKE , a
retired executive secre-
tary-treasurer of Port-
land-based Service
Employees Interna-
tional Union (SEIU)
Local 49 and a former
international vice pres-
ident, died March 11.
He was 91.
M ARTELL F. B LAKE , S R . was born
July 20, 1920, in Tacoma, Washington,
to Nettie and Harold Blake. His father
was a founding member of the Build-
ing Service Union Local 38, which later
changed its name to SEIU.
After graduating from Stadium High
School in Tacoma in 1937, Blake joined
Local 38 and worked as a window-
washer. He tried his hand at other jobs
and was a member of the Lumber and
Sawmill Workers Union and Boiler-
makers Union. He was working as a
welder at Todd Shipyard in 1943 when
he joined the U.S. Navy to serve in
World War II.
That same year he married Clara
Olsen.
After the war, Blake used his GI Bill
benefits to learn the insurance business
and open his own agency. In 1948, the
Building Service Union hired him to
serve as a trustee of Local 38. After
completing that assignment in 1951, he
moved to Vancouver, Washington, to
work in a plywood mill in Portland.
There, he was a member of the Wood-
workers Union. He also worked part-
time as a window washer through SEIU
Local 49, where his uncle, Glenn, was
secretary-treasurer.
After two years, Blake returned to
Washington. He owned and operated
unionized restaurants in Tacoma and
Moses Lake.
He returned to Portland in 1959 to
work for his uncle as a Local 49 busi-
ness agent. When Glenn Blake retired
in 1968, Marty was elected his succes-
sor. In 1970, he became a member of
the SEIU international Executive Board
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after she wore a temporary union tattoo. York later quit and
moved out of the area.
Other allegations were settled by a voluntary agreement
to post a notice in all locations for 60 days. In the notice,
Dosha promises not to do any of the 30 things that it was
alleged to have done in violation of the National Labor Re-
lations Act. Included is a pledge to remove cameras from
the employee break room at the Hawthorne store, at the
union’s request.
Several other charges of labor law violations by Dosha
are still being investigated.
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
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and four years later was elected an in-
ternational vice president, where he
served with former national AFL-CIO
president John Sweeney.
Sweeney spoke at Blake’s retirement
dinner in Portland in 1983.
Blake served for about 30 years on
the board of directors of the Union La-
bor Retirement Association, builder of
Union Manor retirement apartment
complexes in the Portland metro area.
After retiring in 1983, the Blakes
moved into Westmoreland Union
Manor in Southeast Portland.
Starting in 1997, Westmoreland
Union Manor was the location for the
Northwest Oregon Labor Council’s an-
nual Labor Appreciation Night, and for
many years Blake volunteered his cook-
ing skills to prepare dinner for the more
than 250 guests.
Blake was installed into the North-
west Oregon Labor Retirees Council’s
Labor Hall of Fame in November 2000.
Blake was preceded in death by his
wife, and son, Marty Jr. He is survived
by three daughters, 12 grandchildren;
and 18 great-grandchildren.
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Dosha pays $7,000 to fired massage therapist
In an out-of-court settlement approved March 20 by the
National Labor Relations Board, Dosha Salon Spa agreed
to pay $6,946 to fired massage therapist Mary Christ, who
waived her right to reinstatement. Christ was a new em-
ployee when she was fired last September after she wore
red feathers in her hair as a show of solidarity with co-
workers. Workers at Dosha voted in March 2011 to join
Communications Workers of America Local 7901, and red
is CWA’s color. Christ has since found work elsewhere.
Dosha also pledged a $26 payment to former Dosha hair
stylist Kelanie York, who was sent home early from work
IN MEMORIAM
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