Postal unions form alliance
IAM’s Guide Dog program breaks
ground on new education center
SYLMAR, Calif. — International
Association of Machinist-founded
Guide Dogs of America (GDA) will
break ground April 13 on a new
15,900-square-foot indoor/outdoor ed-
ucation and visitor center at its 7.5-acre
campus in northeast San Fernando Val-
ley.
The nonprofit charitable organiza-
tion has been providing professionally-
trained guide dogs to visually-impaired
individuals since 1982. GDA services
are provided at no charge, and the or-
ganization receives no funding from
government agencies. All donations
come from individuals, businesses,
foundations, clubs, and organizations
as well as through wills and bequests.
Much of the funding is raised at
Machinist Union-related events
throughout the country. For example,
Gladstone, Oregon-based Machinists
District W24 hosts an annual golf tour-
nament, motorcycle “poker run,” and
salmon fishing derby to raise money
for GDA.
“It’s through the continued generos-
ity of supporters such as this and all the
other donations that Guide Dogs of
America receives, that we continue to
provide the best benefit to those in
need,” said Bob Petroff, assistant di-
recting business representative of IAM
District W24 and a member of the
GDA board of directors.
The cost to produce a qualified
guide dog companion, train the guide
dog and recipient as a team, and pro-
vide the follow-up services that ensure
safety and effectiveness throughout the
team’s working life, is $42,000. Guide
Dogs of America breeds its own spe-
cially selected Labrador Retrievers,
Golden Retrievers, and German Shep-
herds.
Last year, 54 guide dog teams grad-
uated from the school.
It has graduated more than 3,200
Gradine Storms,
Principal Broker
Member of CWA Local 7901
7886 SE 13th, Portland, OR•Cell/Text 503-784-8326
gstorms@equitygroup.com Linkedin/GradyStorms
Machinists Lodge 63 and IAM
District W24 sponsor the Guide Dog
Dash each year to help raise money
for Guide Dogs of America.
guide dog teams since its inception.
The new education center will be
named the Phil and Macki Singer Visi-
tor and Education Center. The Singers
have supported Guide Dogs of Amer-
ica since 1994. When Phil passed away
in 2004, a significant gift was dedicated
to the school, which allowed for con-
struction of the center.
To learn more, call 818-362-5834
or go on line at www.guidedogsofamer-
ica.org.
Declaring that “the U.S. Postal
Service (USPS) is under unprece-
dented attack,” the presidents of the na-
tion’s four postal unions have formed a
historic alliance to fight back.
The Postal Union Alliance commits
the American Postal Workers Union
(APWU), the National Association of
Letter Carriers (NALC), the National
Postal Mail Handlers Union, and the
National Rural Letter Carriers Associa-
tion to work together to protect service
and oppose the subcontracting of work
and privatization of services. It also
vows to expand service to include basic
banking, notary, check-cashing and
other services.
The four union presidents — Mark
Dimondstein of APWU, Fredric
Rolando of NALC, John Hegarty of
the Mail Handlers Union; and Jeanette
Dwyer of the Rural Letter Carriers
each signed a proclamation that reads
in part:
“A congressionally-manufactured
financial crisis drains the USPS of vital
resources. Six-day delivery is under
constant threat of elimination. The re-
duction of service standards and the
elimination of half of the nation’s mail
processing centers has slowed service
and wiped out tens of thousands of
good jobs. Post offices in cities and
small towns are being sold or closed or
having their hours cut back.
“Our efforts will benefit all postal
employees and the people of this coun-
try who expect and deserve a vibrant,
public Postal Service for generations to
come.
“Corporate privatizers seek to gain
control over larger segments of postal
operations — and to get their hands on
the Postal Service’s $65 billion of an-
nual revenue. The postmaster general’s
policies of subcontracting and degrad-
ing service are fueling the privatization
drive,” the proclamation declares.
Union vote scheduled for
Portland park rangers
This month, park rangers at the City
of Portland will finally get what they
asked for over a year ago: The right to
join the union of their choice.
On March 29, 2013, a majority of
the 15 park rangers asked Mayor Char-
lie Hales to recognize their choice to
join Laborers Local 483. Instead, the
City Attorney’s office filed a hodge-
podge of legal objections with the state
Employment Relations Board. The City
lost, appealed, lost again, and was or-
dered to get on with it.
Now mail ballots will go out April
21. They’re due back May 5, and will
be tallied May 6 at 10 a.m. If the ma-
jority vote “Union Yes,” they’ll become
members of 900-member Local 483,
which is part of the seven-union coali-
tion known as the District Council of
Trade Unions.
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