Huts for the homeless and handcuffs to hardhats
Oregon unions will
train state prison
inmates, and build
shelters for homeless
The Oregon AFL-CIO and a hand-
ful of trade unions are about to team up
with Oregon Corrections Enterprises to
introduce female inmates to skilled
trades. Beginning in November, 90 in-
mates at the Coffee Creek Correctional
Facility in Wilsonville, Oregon, will
take part in an experimental four-
month-long pre-apprenticeship training
program. Groups of 15 will have 260
hours of classroom instruction, and
then, to help them put skills into prac-
tice and see how the skilled trades fit to-
gether, each class will construct a sim-
$17 a month coverage
includes:
ple shed, which Oregon Corrections
Enterprises hopes to make available to
local governments for use as temporary
housing units for the homeless. The
project will use welding, machine and
carpentry tools that were sitting idle at a
shuttered shop facility at Mill Creek
Correctional Facility in Salem.
Known as “First Chance,” the proj-
ect is the brainchild of Oregon AFL-
CIO workforce liaison Mark Warne,
who serves on the board of Oregon Cor-
rections Enterprises — the state agency
that manages inmate work programs.
“A lot of these people didn’t have a
first chance,” Warne says, explaining
the name. “To reduce recidivism, it’s
important to provide career opportuni-
ties for ex-offenders.”
So far, the Carpenters, Painters,
Roofers, Laborers, and Electrical Work-
ers unions have pledged to provide in-
structors for 8 to 20 hours of basic train-
ing per class, and Warne is talking with
other unions about participating.
The 8’X10’ sheds the inmates will
build will have insulation and electric
Designed by inmates, these huts are slated to be built this fall by inmates at
the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Wilsonville.
light and heat, but no plumbing. They’ll
have a window and a door, a composite
roof, and 1.5”-thick floors of linoleum
on top of double decking of 3/4” pres-
sure-treated plywood. The sheds will be
set on three 4”x6” pressure treated skids
to make them easy to move and level.
Warne expects the program will build
10 huts over the course of the first year,
some of which will be set up as a
demonstration village outside the Ore-
gon Corrections Enterprises offices in
Salem, to showcase the project to legis-
lators.
The huts aren’t meant as a long-term
solution to homelessness, Warne said.
“They’re simply to keep people from
having to live in doorways or sleeping
on sidewalks,” Warne said. “This is
something for somebody that is sliding
down the economic scale or is in the
process of building back up.”
The huts are being offered to local
governments at below the cost of mate-
rials, though none have agreed to take
the huts yet. City of Portland officials
declined, saying they’re focusing re-
sources on getting the homeless into
temporary shelters and permanent
homes; the sheds are something in be-
tween those two.
“It was a little disappointing,” said
Oregon AFL-CIO spokesperson Elana
Guiney, “but there are a lot of other lo-
cal governments in state. We’re moving
ahead with the other [skills training]
part of the program.”
Labor council puts out more political endorsements
www.legalshield.com/info/randallnix
PAGE 4
Delegates to the Northwest Oregon
Labor Council (NOLC) made several
political endorsements at its monthly
meeting Aug. 27.
The council endorsed the re-election
of Clackamas County Commissioner
Jamie Damon and Wilsonville Mayor
Tim Knapp, and supports passage of
statewide Ballot Measures 82, 83, and
85, as well as Wood Village Ballot
Measure 26-142. It opposed Ballot
Measure 84. All will be on the ballot in
November’s general election.
Measure 82 amends the Oregon
Constitution to authorize establishment
of privately-owned casinos and man-
dates a percentage of revenues payable
to a dedicated state fund. Measure 83
authorizes a privately owned casino in
Wood Village. Measure 26-142 is tied
to Measures 82 and 83. It is for resi-
dents of Wood Village only, and would
permit the siting of a casino at the old
Multnomah Kennel Club.
All three ballot measures must pass
in November in order for the proposed
$300 million entertainment complex to
proceed. Developers have signed a let-
ter of understanding with the Columbia
Pacific Building Trades Council assur-
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
ing that it will be built with union labor.
It is estimated that 3,000 construction
jobs will be created over a period of 18
to 24 months if approved. Talks also are
under way regarding a neutrality agree-
ment for the 2,000 full time employees
that will be hired to operate the center.
A neutrality agreement is a pledge by
an employer not to oppose efforts by a
union to organize its employees.
Ballot Measure 85 seeks to amend
the Constitution to allocate the corpo-
rate income/excise tax “kicker” refund
to K-12 schools, rather than back to cor-
porations.
Measure 84 is a scheme put forth by
Republican Kevin Mannix to eliminate
the estate tax for millionaires. As it is,
Oregon’s estate tax only applies to es-
tates worth more than $1 million, and
excludes family-owned farms and other
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SEPTEMBER 7, 2012