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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 2, 2013)
UFCW to host ‘delete blood cancer’ drive at Labor Day picnic at Oaks Park One person is diagnosed with blood cancer every four minutes. Thousands of patients with leukemia and other life-threatening dis- eases depend on finding matching donors who can save their lives. Pa- tients need donors who are a close ge- netic match. But even with a registry of millions, six out of 10 patients never re- ceive the lifesaving transplant they need. This Labor Day at Oaks Park, union members and their families could be the one to give a blood cancer patient a second chance at life by registering to be a bone marrow donor. The Northwest Oregon Labor Coun- cil and United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555 are partnering with Delete Blood Cancer (DKMS) to host the donor registration drive. DKMS is a 501(c)(3) organization founded to es- tablish a worldwide donor registry. “We have the potential to set the record for the most donor registrations in a single day,” said Dan Clay, presi- dent of Local 555, who is spearheading the drive. The picnic typically attracts 18,000 people. The goal is to register 1,800 donors. Potential donors must be between the ages of 18 and 55, weigh more than 110 pounds, be in good general health, and commit to donate peripheral blood stem cells or bone marrow if found to be a match. Registering is as easy as filling out a form and swabbing the inside of your cheeks to collect cells for tissue typing. The entire process should take less than 10 minutes. “Statistically, we have a real poten- tial to save six lives in the next year based on what we do on Labor Day (Sept. 2),” Clay said. “A one-day drive can save six lives this year, and more lives next year. It’s a huge opportunity to do good.” Swab stations will be set up at two locations at Oaks Park from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more details on bone marrow donation, go on line to deleteblood- cancer.org. (Editor’s Note: Donor registration typically costs around $100. However, Delete Blood Cancer is picking up the entire cost of this registration.) Scavenger hunt planned at Oaks Park Plans are in the works for a scav- enger hunt for youngsters at this year’s Labor Day picnic at Oaks Park. The goal is to get 23 union locals to participate (so far 10 unions have signed up). The scavenger hunt will entail us- ing clues found in a “passport” to find various unions represented at the picnic. For example, a clue might be: “We are the union who delivers your mail.” The answer is: the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC). Participants must find the NALC picnic site (look for bunches of balloons) and have their passports stamped there. Youngsters can pick up passports at Labor’s Community Service Agency’s (LCSA) booth at the picnic. Once they obtain the required number of stamps (still undetermined), they will return their passport to the LCSA booth, where they will be eligible for a draw- ing to win a bicycle or $50 gift card, de- pending on their age. All participants will receive a prize. Age groups are 0-4 years; 5-7 years; 8-10 years; 11-12 years; 13-14 years; 15-16 years; and 17-18 years. Prizes have been donated by the In- ternational Longshore and Warehouse Union, the Oregon School Employees Association, Labor’s Community Serv- ice Agency, Franz Bakery, and Bakers Local 114. The scavenger hunt starts at 10 a.m. and ends at 3 p.m., with the announce- ment of winners of the drawings. “It’s a fun way to educate youngsters — and their parents — about what it is union members do,” said Jeff Klatke, president of Oregon AFSCME Council 75 and chair of the children’s game planning committee for the Northwest Oregon Labor Council. For more information, or to include your union local in the scavenger hunt, call Klatke at 503-704-1665. Building Trades Academy comes to Portland The Building Trades Academy of the national Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO, was in Portland July 22-26 for a week-long education program on organizing and membership development. In the photo above, Tom Kriger (standing), director of research for the BCTD, reviews notes with Todd Templeton of Plumbers and Fitters Local 290 in Tualatin, and Jeff Washburn and Wayne Elliott of Plumbers at Fitters Local 26 out of Olympia, Wash. Thirty-one union organizers and/or business managers from a half-dozen construction crafts attended classes held at the IBEW Local 48 union hall in Northeast Portland. Some attendees came from as far as Wisconsin and Alabama. A series of courses geared toward education and training for union leaders and members in the construction industry are offered at the National Labor College in Silver Spring, Maryland. This year, the BCTD Executive Board decided to take the Academy on the road, making Portland the first stop on the West Coast. Kriger said courses are interactive and include small-group exercises centered on realistic case studies. The Building Trades Academy offers courses in organizational development, negotiating, teaching techniques, and labor law in the construction industry. Kriger, a former provost at the National Labor College, said the BCTD partners with Michigan State University’s School of Human Resources and Labor Relations for curriculum development. (International Standard Serial Number 0894-444X) Established in 1900 at Portland, Oregon as a voice of the labor movement. 4275 NE Halsey St., P.O. Box 13150, Portland, Ore. 97213 Telephone: (503) 288-3311 Editor: Michael Gutwig Staff: Don McIntosh, Cheri Rice Published on a semi-monthly basis on the first and third Fridays of each month by the Oregon Labor Press Publishing Co. Inc., a non- profit corporation owned by 20 unions and councils including the Oregon AFL-CIO. Serving more than 120 union organizations in Ore- gon and SW Washington. Subscriptions $13.75 per year for union members. Group rates available to trade union organizations. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT PORTLAND, OREGON. CHANGE OF ADDRESS NOTICE: Three weeks are required for a change of address. When ordering a change, please give your old and new addresses and the name and number of your local union. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS, P.O. BOX 13150, PORTLAND, OR 97213-0150 PAGE 2 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS AUGUST 2, 2013