‘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