IBEW Local 48 volunteers help light
up The Grotto Festival of Lights
A holiday tradition for some mem-
bers of IBEW Local 48 is volunteering
to help wire and power all of the lights
— 500,000 of them — at The Grotto’s
Festival of Lights.
Local 48 members and their em-
ployers at the National Electrical Con-
tractors Association have been helping
with the event since 1988.
“The festival wouldn’t happen with-
out NECA/IBEW Local 48, “ said Pe-
ter Mott, festival coordinator. “We love
their can-do attitude and how they dive
in and get the job done. Every year 40
NECA/IBEW Local 48 volunteers
make sure that 2400 amps of power are
connected safely.”
The Grotto’s festival is open from 5
to 9:30 p.m. nightly (except for Christ-
Gov. John Kitzhaber
seeks fourth term
mas) through Monday, Dec. 30. Gen-
eral admission is $9, seniors (65 and
over), $8, and children 3 to 12 years of
age) is $4.
“It’s a lot of fun volunteering to
help at The Grotto. You get to see good
people you haven’t seen in a year,” said
Steve Martell, a retired Local 48 mem-
ber. “For those of us who have volun-
teered for a long time, we each have
our area that we know pretty well and
work on.”
During this year’s 31-night run, 150
concerts will be presented — five con-
certs each night in The Grotto’s 600-
seat chapel.
The Grotto is located at 8840 NE
Skidmore St., Portland.
CWA’s Gail Rosebrook steps down from
Labor’s Community Service Agency board
Gail Rosebrook, one of the longest-
serving Executive Board members for
Labor’s Community Service Agency
(LCSA), stepped down from the vol-
unteer position at the conclusion of the
agency’s quarterly meeting Dec. 4.
LCSA is a non-profit organization
that operates under the auspices of the
Northwest Oregon Labor Council with
a 16-person board of directors. Its pri-
mary funding source is United Way of
the Columbia-Willamette. LCSA
works with an array of community-
based and governmental organizations
throughout Oregon and Southwest
Our members have
the power to make
the season bright.
Enjoy Your Holiday Season
from
IBEW Local 125
Washington to
provide education,
information, refer-
ral services, and
social service pro-
grams.
Rosebrook, a
longtime member
and three-term
secretary-treasurer of Communications
Workers of America Local 7901, has
served on the board for more than 20
years. Her stepfather, Del Ricks, was
LCSA’s executive director for 17 years,
starting in 1976.
SALEM — Oregon Gov. John
Kitzhaber announced this month that he
will seek an unprecedented fourth term
as governor.
In its online Weekly Update, the
Oregon AFL-CIO asked what a
Kitzhaber fourth term would mean for
Oregon’s workers. Their response:
“It means that PERS cuts are done
for the next five years: ‘The Public Em-
ployees Retirement System is off the
table for this governor,’ Kitzhaber said
shortly after the Legislature adjourned
from the Fall 2013 Special Session. ‘We
are done. We are going to move on to
other things that are important to Ore-
gonians.’
“It means we have the opportunity to
work with a governor who wants to
overhaul the workforce system, giving
us an opportunity to fight to ensure that
Oregon’s workforce system will be
used to help workers get the training
they need, not as a tool for employers to
avoid investing in Oregon’s workforce,”
the Oregon AFL-CIO continued.
“It also means that we will continue
to have a governor who supports a
worker’s right to choose whether or not
they want to for a union — and who
will hold public entities to a high stan-
dard when it comes to respecting work-
ers’ rights.”
To date, no Democrat has filed to run
against Kitzhaber in the May primary.
Two Republicans have filed to run for
governor. They are state Rep. Dennis
Richardson of Central Point, and East-
ern Oregon rancher Jon Justesen.
Local 14,
Spokane, WA.
Local 751,
Anchorage, AK.
Local 29,
Portland, OR.
Local 506,
Seattle, WA.
Local 86
Seattle, WA.
Local 516,
Portland, OR.
We Wish All The Working Men, Women and Their Families
Joy and Happiness This Holiday Season
and a Very Special New Year
17200 NE Sacramento, Portland, OR
503-262-9125
The Pacific Northwest
Iron Workers District Council
and its
Affiliated Local Unions
PAGE 2
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
DECEMBER 20, 2013