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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (June 20, 2014)
IN MEMORIAM G ERRY G REER , a retired grand lodge representative for the International As- sociation of Machinists (IAM) and a former president of the Marion, Polk, and Yamhill Counties Central Labor Coun- cil, passed away May 29. He was 71. Before going to work for the international union, Greer was a business agent for then- Machinists District Lodges 163 and 24. G ERALD “G ERRY ” L. G REER was born on Jan. 13, 1943 in New York City. He moved to California’s East Bay as a young boy, then to Clovis, New Mex- ico, and finally to Salina, Kansas, before enlisting in the U.S. Air Force. After his discharge from the service he returned to California and formed a rock and roll band. The band joined the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and from 1964 to 1970 traveled across Alaska, Montana, Idaho, Wash- ington and Oregon. After the band dissolved, Greer worked as a bartender and later as a vice president for the restaurant chain Mr. Steak. After three years on that job, he and his wife at the time, Mary Jo, moved to her hometown of Salem, Oregon. There, Greer found a job as a welder at a Caterpillar lift-truck plant in nearby Dallas. He joined Machinists Local 1506 and became active in the union. Gerry and Mary Jo divorced in 1980. Greer was hired as a business agent for IAM District 163 representing the members of Local 1506. When the IAM merged District 163 into Port- JUNE 20, 2014 land-based District Lodge 24, Greer was appointed administrative assistant to then-directing business rep- resentative George Miller. While with District 24, Greer was elected to represent the Salem-based labor coun- cil’s three counties on the Ore- gon AFL-CIO Executive Board, and later was elected first vice president of the state labor federation. It was also while working out of the District 24 building that Greer met his second wife, Annie, who was the man- ager of the union’s financial office. In 1989, Greer was appointed by the IAM as a grand lodge representa- tive — an international rep — and as- signed to Phoenix. He later took an as- signment to the IAM’s 13-state Western Regional Headquarters in Sacramento, California. After retiring in 2005, the Greers re- turned to the Northwest, making their home in Washougal, Wash. Gerry transferred his membership to Vancou- ver Local 1374. Greer was inducted into the North- west Oregon Labor Council Retirees Association Labor Hall of Fame in April 2007. Greer is survived by his wife of 32 years, Annie; sons Douglas Weaver of Kansas, Sean Smith of Beaverton, Erin Smith of Happy Valley, and Joel Greer of Salem; daughter Jeni of Chicago; nine grandchildren; and one great- grandchild. At his request there will be no serv- ice. A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date. ORGANIZED LABOR TOOK PART IN THE PORTLAND GAY PRIDE MARCH, with an entry sponsored by the Oregon AFL-CIO and its constituency group Pride at Work. About 80 union members and supporters and their families turned out June 15, including contingents from Oregon AFSCME, Painters District Council 5, Letter Carriers Branch 82, UNITE HERE, Service Employees, American Federation of Teachers, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757, and Industrial Workers of the World. They marched behind an ATU Local 757 minibus driven by Local 757 President Bruce Hansen. Laborers #483 elects Askin business manager In mail ballots counted June 12, Er- ica Askin was elected business manager of Laborers Local 483, receiving 71 per- cent of the vote and outpolling chal- lenger Gannon Sorg. Askin is the first female business manager at the largely male local. Lo- cal 483, a public sector local of the La- borers International Union of North America (LIUNA), represents munici- pal workers in Portland, Silverton and Gervais and at the Metro regional gov- ernment. Membership ranges from 900 to 1,100 because Local 483 represents many seasonal workers. Askin, with a law degree from Rut- gers University in New Jersey, was hired by Local 483 in 2010, and was ap- pointed to replace business manager Richard Beetle in February 2014 when he retired. Over the course of her three-year term, Askin says she will continue Lo- cal 483’s fight against employers using low-wage temporary, part-time and sea- sonal workers to do work that could be done by full-time year-round permanent employees at a living wage. She also NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS to wants strengthen the network of union stewards, and get more members in- volved. She’ll carry forward a not-yet-public campaign to or- ganize new E RICA A SKIN members. And she’ll be respon- sible for negotiating contract terms for a group of 24 City of Portland park rangers who joined the union after over a year of legal obstruction by the City. Local 483’s biggest collective bar- gaining agreement is with the City of Portland, for about 585 members. The local is part of the seven-union District Council of Trade Unions (DCTU). Local 483 has several pending griev- ances against the City over outsourcing members’ work. In a case that will go before an arbitrator in August, Local 483 accuses the City of using prison la- bor to operate a street cleaning machine. Another grievance alleges that the City failed to notify the union before out- sourcing homeless camp cleanup. Askin also has contracts to renegoti- ate for 450 employees of Metro at the Oregon Zoo and regional parks like Oxbow and Blue Lake; 85 seasonal maintenance workers at City of Port- land parks; 15 maintenance workers at the City of Silverton; and four police of- ficers at the City of Gervais. Askin ran on a slate with six other candidates, all of whom were elected. Scott Gibson and Kevin Stampflee out- polled two other candidates to win two at-large seats on the Executive Board. And four other members of the slate ran unopposed: Wesley Buchholz, presi- dent; Kassey Diaz, vice president; Ben Nelson, secretary-treasurer; and Jennie Bert, recording secretary. Also running unopposed were Will Tucker, sergeant-at-arms; and Tom Henn, auditor. Farrell Richartz, for- merly recording secretary, outpolled one other candidate to win election as Local 483’s delegate to the District Council of Laborers. PAGE 7
