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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (April 5, 2013)
‘Troublemakers’ school in Portland April 13 Labor Notes, a media and organiz- ing project that has been a voice of union activists who want to put the movement back in the labor movement since 1979, is bringing its 2013 “Trou- blemakers School” to Portland, Satur- day, April 13. The daylong event starts at 9 a.m. at the IBEW Local 48 NIETC Building, 16021 NE Airport Way, Portland. About 200 people are expected to at- tend. The school is a venue for union and nonunion workers and interested com- munity members to participate in skill building workshops and strategy dis- cussions to create a stronger workers movement in Oregon. Guest speakers include Mark Bren- ner, director of Labor Notes magazine; Joe Burns, a veteran union negotiator, former local president, and author of “Reviving the Strike: How Working People Can Regain Power and Trans- form America;” Sarah Chambers, teacher and member of the caucus of Rank-and-File Educators of the Chicago Teachers Union; and Stephanie Luce, labor studies professor and author active in building commu- nity-labor solidarity in New York City. Registration is $10 and is open at http://bit.ly/registerTMS. Supporting organizations of the con- ference include IBEW Local 48, La- borers Local 483, Morel Ink, Letter Carriers Branch 82, Oregon School Employees Association Staff Union, Portland Association of Teachers, Port- land Jobs with Justice, United Associa- tion of Plumbers and Fitters Local 290, Service Employees Local 503, and United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555. For more information, contact local organizing committee member Jamie Partridge at 503-752-5112 or by email at jamiep7206@aol.com. Pacific Northwest Labor History group to convene in Portland May 3-5 “Labor Under Attack: Learning from the Past and Preparing for the Future,” is the theme of this year’s Pacific Northwest Labor History Association (PNLHA) Confer- ence, to be held May 3-5 at the University Place Hotel & Conference Center, 310 SW Lincoln, Portland. In its 45th year, the conference brings together trade unionists, students, academics, and others who share an interest in the history and heritage of workers in Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. The Friday evening, May 3, opening reception will take place at the Oregon Historical Society Pavilion and will include music and a screening of “Roll on Columbia: Woody Guthrie and the Columbia River Songs.” The conference gets under way Saturday at 9 a.m. at University Place Hotel & Conference Center, a unionized hotel under contract with Service Employees Local 503. [University Place Hotel and Conference Center is owned by Portland State University.] Employees at the Oregon Historical Society are union members of the OHS Em- ployees Association. This year’s keynote speaker is Mark Leier, professor of history at Simon Fraser University. PNLHA annually recognizes individuals and organi- zations with awards at its conference banquet Saturday evening. This year awards will be presented to Margaret Butler and Jobs with Justice, and United Academics of the University of Oregon. April 12 is the deadline for early registration, which is $85 ($25 for students and those unemployed). After April 12, the registration fee goes to $105/$35. For more information, contact Ross Rieder at 206-406- 2604 or e-mail to pnlha1@aol.com. Bowling fundraiser April 28 Mark your calendars and form a team for Sunday, April 28, and the 24th Annual Labor Bowl Challenge to ben- efit the local Muscular Dystrophy As- sociation (MDA). It’s easy to get to the Sunset Lanes, 12770 SW Walker Road, Beaverton. Registration starts at 11 a.m., with bowling under way at noon. Money for MDA is raised by indi- vidual fundraising and a silent auction. The goal is to pre-register 30 or more four-member bowling teams represent- ing about 20 local unions. In addition to a fun day bowling with fellow union members, families and friends, there is a silent auction, along with door prizes, pizza and soft drinks. Prizes will be awarded to the top individual fundraiser, the man and woman with top average score (three games), and lowest average bowler. Also, there are prizes for incremental levels of fundraising. All proceeds will benefit the local MDA, which provides much needed support to over 1,200 local individuals and families living with neuromuscu- lar diseases. Money goes to buy wheel chairs and braces for children, as well as medical services, research and sum- mer camps. Since its inception in 1989, the La- bor Bowl — coordinated by the Na- tional Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) Branch 82, the Northwest Oregon Labor Council, and other par- ticipating Oregon labor unions — has raised $339,721 for MDA. For more information, or to sign up and receive fundraising packets, call Jim Cook, president of Letter Carriers Branch 82, at 503-493-5903. To donate silent auction items, call NALC’s MDA Coordinator Debby Burbank at 971-404-5384. Letter Carriers Food Drive May 11 Letter carriers in the Portland met- ropolitan area and in Clark County, Washington will help “Stamp Out Hunger” on Saturday, May 11, part of the 21st annual National Association of Letter Carriers and U.S. Postal Service Food Drive. Prior to May 11, plastic bags will be delivered to every household, along with a postcard reminder. All you have to do is fill the bag with nonperishable food items such as canned meat, fish and soup, cereals, pasta and rice, and leave it at your mailbox on the morn- ing of Saturday, May 11. (Please do not include glass items, homemade items or previously opened containers.) PAGE 8 Letter Carriers will collect the bags and deliver them to drop points, where volunteers will sort the donations and forward them to the Oregon Food Bank. Food collected in Clark County will benefit Clark County hunger-relief agencies. The Food Drive raises more than 1.5 million pounds of food each year for the Oregon Food Bank. It is the largest one-day food collection of the year in Oregon — and across the nation. According to the Oregon Food Bank, an estimated 240,000 people get meals from emergency food boxes in an average month. NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS APRIL 5, 2013
