No dunces at annual
LERC Summer School
B Y STEFAN OSTRACH
S PECIAL C ORRESPONDENT
EUGENE — For many, summer
school used to be a dreaded prospect.
Summer school meant we’d failed
some class and had to make it up in-
stead of enjoying our vacations. But for
143 union activists on the University of
Oregon campus the weekend of Aug.
10-12, the AFL-CIO Summer School
offered a great opportunity.
For more than 30 years, UO’s La-
bor Education and Research Center
(LERC) has organized the summer
school. LERC instructor Lynn Feekin
thinks the summer school is “one of the
best programs LERC does. It’s the only
place unionists from all different
unions come together for a weekend.
They learn, play volleyball, watch
movies, and picnic. It’s such an ener-
gizer and solidarity builder.”
The weekend event brought to-
gether active members with a wide
range of experience levels — from
rank-and-file members, to local union
leaders, to executive board members
and officers, to staffers — from a wide
variety of private and public sector
unions that included the American Fed-
eration of State, County and Municipal
Employees, the American Federation
of Teachers, the Machinists Union, La-
borers Union, the International Broth-
Machinists Lodge 1005 members Clarence Williams (left) and Tim Frey listen
intently during “The Real Life of Union Stewards” workshop at LERC
Summer School.
Summer School attendees on New Deal Art and Architecture tour of federally-funded projects on University of Oregon
campus led by Nathan Moore, a member of Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation Local 3544, an affiliate of the
American Federation of Teachers. (Photos by Stefan Ostrach)
erhood of Electrical Workers, the Ore-
gon Nurses Association, the National
Association of Letter Carriers, United
Food and Commercial Workers, Serv-
ice Employees International Union,
UNITE-HERE, the International Al-
liance of Theatrical Stage Employees,
and others.
Scott Petterson was at his fifth sum-
mer school.
“I learn something every year,” said
Petterson, a vice president of AFSCME
Council 75. “It’s hard to give up a
weekend away from family, but I want
to be the best union leader I can.
There’s no better place to learn.”
Petterson praised the “good instruc-
Have a
Great
Labor Day!
tion and real life experience from oth-
ers.” Reflecting back, he related, “The
first year I felt a little overwhelmed, not
sure if I’d fit in. But other unions have
the same problems and issues. It’s a
tough economy and everybody is suf-
fering.”
Lisa Dupell, a staffer at UFCW Lo-
cal 555 who worked her way up
through the ranks, enjoyed the cama-
raderie.
“It’s a really good experience, the
different unions coming together,” she
said.
Feekin noted that the relationships
formed at the summer school carry
over into communities across the state,
“They go home juiced up about the la-
bor movement, tie in to the bigger pic-
ture, excited to put shoulders to the
wheel,” she said.
(Editor’s Note: Stefan Ostrach, a re-
tired Teamsters union representative is
a special correspondent in Eugene.)
The Hard-Working
Dedicated Municipal Employees
Laborers Local 483
Salute our Union Brothers and Sisters
AUGUST 17, 2012
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
Richard Beetle
Scott Gibson
Business Manager
President
Kevin Stampflee
Farrell Richartz
Mark Lewis
Vice President
Recording Secretary
Sgt.-at-Arms
Donna Bandeen
Wesley Buchholz
Mike Murphy
PAC Treasurer
Executive Board
Executive Board
PAGE 21