UFCW to host ‘delete blood cancer’ drive at Labor Day picnic
One person is diagnosed with blood
cancer every four minutes.
Thousands of patients with leukemia
and other life-threatening diseases de-
pend on finding matching bone marrow
donors who can save their lives. Patients
need donors who are a close genetic
match. But even with a registry of mil-
lions, six out of 10 patients never receive
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 sec-
ond 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 fill-
ing 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.
Labor Day picnic blood drive
called off due to labor dispute
A contract dispute between Oregon
Nurses Association (ONA) and the
Oregon Trail Chapter of the American
Red Cross has resulted in the cancela-
tion of this year’s Labor Day blood
drive at Oaks Park.
Regular attendees of the picnic spon-
sored by the Northwest Oregon Labor
Council know that the Red Cross al-
ways parks a bloodmobile or two at the
picnic for blood donations. Typically,
30 to 35 pints of blood are collected —
with a record 80 pints set last year.
ONA represents 64 nurses at Amer-
ican Red Cross. Teamsters Local 223
represents 150 support staff there. The
Teamsters had contract issues with Red
Cross last year that almost led to the
cancellation of the blood drive. A new
contract was ratified, but the union says
it still is having problems implement-
ing some of the new language in that
Labor Day picnic at
Oaks Park will feature
kids’ scavenger hunt
Twenty-two unions have signed on
to participate in a kids’ scavenger hunt
at this year’s Labor Day picnic at Oaks
Park.
“It’s a fun way to educate young-
sters — 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.
“Passports” can be picked up at La-
bor’s Community Service Agency’s
(LCSA) booth at the picnic. Once kids
obtain the required number of stamps,
they will return their passport to the
LCSA booth, where they will be eligi-
ble for a drawing to win a bicycle or
$50 gift card. All participants will re-
ceive a prize.
The scavenger hunt is for young-
sters ages 1 to 18. It starts at 10 a.m.
and ends at 3 p.m., with the announce-
ment of winners of the drawings.
For more information, call Klatke at
503-704-1665.
PAGE 2
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
contract.
“The Teamsters Union supports
ONA and the labor council in whatever
action it is forced to take,” said Team-
sters Rep Dave Tully.
According to ONA, American Red
Cross has brought in a union-busting at-
torney from Alabama to negotiate the
new agreement. The contract expired
June 30.
American Red Cross initially sought
to replace registered nurses with unli-
censed personnel at various stages of the
blood donation process, including pa-
tient assessments. It also proposed limit-
ing nurses’ access to their sick leave
bank until the third consecutive day they
were out of work. Both of those propos-
als were withdrawn, said Tresa Ca-
vanaugh, lead negotiator for ONA.
The remaining hurdle is wages.
American Red Cross is pushing to
lower the wage rate for new-hires, elim-
inate step/ longevity increases, and cut
differential pay.
ONA has represented nurses at
American Red Cross for more than 30
years.
Limited free food
scrip offered at Oaks
Park Labor Day picnic
Labor’s Community Service
Agency (LCSA) will provide free food
and drink scrip for union families who
are out of work and want to take part in
the Labor Day picnic festivities at Oaks
Park. Scrip will be limited to a certain
amount per family on a first-come,
first-served basis.
“We want everybody to be able to
come out and have a good time,” said
LCSA Executive Director Vickie
Burns. “We’ll verify their union mem-
bership and call members back with in-
structions on where to pick up their
scrip at Oaks Park.”
To make arrangements for scrip, call
Labor’s Community Service Agency at
503-231-4962 and leave a message that
you would like some scrip for the pic-
nic.
AUGUST 16, 2013