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MEETING NOTICES
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Page 4
Volume 113
Number 24
December 21, 2012
Portland
Unions make ‘season of giving’ last year-round
Anyone who says the union movement is all
about politics, or only cares about its own mem-
bers — to put it mildly — doesn’t know what
they’re talking about. The same spirit that moti-
vates union members to stick up for co-workers
or get involved in political campaigns also inspires
direct service and charity in the community. Union
members volunteer their labor, raise money for
outside charities, and contribute to union-run aid
efforts.
Below we profile some examples of union ef-
forts in Oregon — but you’ll find others every-
where there’s a union hall. In voluntarism and
charitable giving, union members are on the job.
L ABOR ’ S C OMMUNITY
S ERVICES A GENCY
in a series of annual events: a golf and softball
tournament, a lineman’s rodeo, and a casino night.
F ULFILLING WISHES
FOR NEEDY KIDS
million ($315,000 this year) for children’s chari-
ties since it started 22 years ago. Day one is an
auction, and Day two is a golf tournament. With
up to 470 participants, it’s the largest one-day golf
event in Oregon, says organizer Ed Ellis. The ben-
eficiaries are nine children’s charities, including
four local children’s hospitals, groups like Special
Olympics and March of Dimes, and lesser-known
groups like Gales Creek Camp Foundation, which
helps children with diabetes.
For 15 years, Operating Engineers Local 701
has run its “Cheer-A-Child” campaign — donat-
ing toys and clothes to Albertina Kerr Centers, a
Portland charity that helps children and adults
with developmental disabilities and mental health
problems. Every year, Albertina kids and adults in
foster care and group homes submit holiday wish
lists. Local 701 takes 150 of the wishes and gets
busy — buying and delivering toys, blankets,
household goods, movie tickets, and books.
If charity starts at home, Labor’s Community
Service Agency (LCSA) is where it starts in the
local house of labor. With funding from many lo-
cal unions and in partnership with the United Way
of the Columbia-Willamette, LCSA is above all
about helping working families in need. In its
Helping Hands temporary hardship assistance
program, out-of-work union members referred by
their unions can get help paying rent or utility
bills, and information about resources. Last year,
201 households were helped by the program.
LCSA also works with dislocated workers to
make sure they get all the benefits they’re entitled
to, and it coordinates an annual Thanksgiving din-
ner for the families of out-of-work union mem-
bers. Together with the Northwest Oregon Labor
Council, LCSA runs the annual “Presents from
Partners” Toy Drive and holiday party for children
of unemployed workers — both union and
nonunion. Last year kids got four toys each
through Presents from Partners, plus lunch and a
picture with Santa Claus, who was able to take
time out of his busy schedule to attend the event.
Each year, the week after Labor Day, Portland-
area union leaders together with vendors, em-
ployers and trade associations that they have rela-
tionships with turn out for the B.U.L.L. Session.
The B.U.L.L. Session — which stands for Busi-
ness Union, and Labor Leaders — has raised $4.6
Every second Saturday in May, the largest one-
day food drive in the country takes place. In Na-
tional Association of Letter Carriers “Stamp Out
Hunger” Food Drive, union letter carriers drop off
bags at households and then return to pick up mil-
lions of pounds of non-perishable donated food as
they make their appointed rounds. This year,
members of Portland-based National Association
of Letter Carriers Branch 82 brought in over 277
tons of food. The food is sorted by union volun-
teers at postal stations and taken to food banks for
distribution to those in need. Nationwide, 1,417
local NALC branches are involved in the drive,
which has brought in nearly 1.2 billion pounds of
food since it began in 1993.
International Brotherhood of Electrical Work-
ers (IBEW) Local 48 union and the Oregon-Co-
lumbia Chapter of the National Electrical Con-
tractors Association (NECA) are frequent partners
in volunteer efforts. Every year for the last 25
years, they’ve lit up the Grotto in its annual Christ-
mas Festival of Lights. Local 48 has also funded
and installed scoreboards, at $30,000 each, for
Reynolds High School’s baseball field, Gresham
High and Centennial High football fields, Parkrose
High’s swimming facility, and Sam Barlow High’s
basketball court. This year, they donated $17,370
worth of lighting installation & electrical work to
install LED lights along the words “Gateway to
the Gorge” at the top of the Centennial Arch at the
entrance of downtown Troutdale. And members
of IBEW Local 48 employed at West Side Electric
replaced old fluorescent lighting fixtures at Par-
rott Creek Ranch, a residential program in Oregon
City for troubled teen boys.
L ABOR B OWL FOR M USCULAR DYSTROPHY
Muscular dystrophy is a hereditary condition
marked by progressive weakening and wasting of
U NIONS FOR K IDS
S TATE - OF - THE - ART CARE
FOR BURN VICTIMS
B IG MONEY
FOR CHILDREN ’ S CHARITIES
L IGHTING UP THE COMMUNITY
D OOR - TO - DOOR FOOD DRIVE
G UIDE DOGS FOR THE BLIND
Guide Dogs of America — which provides
guide dogs free of charge to the blind — was
founded in 1948 by the International Association
of Machinists. The group trains the dogs and pro-
vides room and board at its campus in Sylmar,
California, for the 28 days it takes to instruct re-
cipients in their use. Its work is supported by Ma-
chinist locals all over the country, with motorcycle
poker runs, charity golf tournaments, auto shows
and other fundraisers. In Portland, a Salmon Fish-
ing Derby begun two years ago has raised $24,000
thus far.
the muscles. For the last 23 years, Portland-area
union members have raised money for the Mus-
cular Dystrophy Association through the Muscu-
lar Dystrophy Labor Bowl, an annual bowling
fundraiser, raising $339,025 in that time. The
money buys wheelchairs and braces for children,
and funds research and summer camps.
The Oregon Burn Center at Legacy Emanuel
Hospital is a place high voltage electric linemen
never want to have to use. But International Broth-
erhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 125
wants state-of-the-art care to be there when burn
victims need it. The Local has raised close to a
million dollars for the center in the last 15 years.
This year, Local 125 contributed $13,240, raised
Since 2002, all-volunteer Unions for Kids has
donated $326,000 to Doernbecher Children’s
Hospital in Portland through an annual motorcycle
raffle, poker run and chili cook-off. Recently the
event has expanded to a Texas hold’em poker tour-
nament and “Date Night” with live music.
Those are just a few. There are so many more
examples.
Local unions sponsor sports teams, and award
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