IN MEMORIAM
A multi-vehicle
crash on I-5 south-
bound in Salem,
Oregon Sept. 24
claimed the life of
AFSCME Local
3327 President D R .
S TEVEN F RITZ . Fritz
was a psychiatrist at
Oregon State Hospital (OHS), where
AFSCME represents about 25 doctors
who work for the Oregon Health Au-
thority. He was the husband of Portland
City Commissioner Amanda Fritz.
Fritz, who turned 54 on Sept. 21,
had been an Oregon AFSCME mem-
ber since 2003. He was first elected
president of Local 3327 in 2012, and
was recently re-elected to a second
two-year term. Fritz was an enthusias-
tic union member who took part in
many AFSCME activities, including
state Central Table bargaining sessions
and political endorsement interviews in
Salem.
Fritz’s 1993 Nissan Sentra, custom
painted with zebra stripes, was a famil-
iar sight at union meetings.
According to Oregon State Police
reports, a pickup truck in the north-
bound lanes of I-5 hit the side of a
semi-truck, careened across the median
OCTOBER 3, 2014
and hit Fritz’s car head-on. His friend
and co-worker, Cary Fairchild, who
frequently carpooled with him from
Portland to the state hospital, was criti-
cally injured. Fairchild is a mental
health technician at OSH and a mem-
ber of Service Employees International
Union Local 503.
The Sept. 24 Portland City Council
meeting was cancelled by Mayor Char-
lie Hales, and Commissioner Nick Fish
and Police Chief Mike Reese accom-
panied Amanda Fritz to Salem after re-
ceiving the news.
“We are saddened to hear about this
tragedy,” said Oregon AFSCME Exec-
utive Director Ken Allen. “Dr. Fritz
was a well respected member and an
energetic local union president. Our
deepest condolences go out to Com-
missioner Fritz, their children and the
entire Fritz family.”
A vigil in Fritz’s memory was held
Sept. 28 at Terry Schrunk Plaza, across
the street from Portland City Hall.
In lieu of flowers, Fritz’s family has
asked that remembrances be sent to one
of four charities: Doctors Without Bor-
ders, Little Kids Rock, New Oregon
Arts & Letters or The Salvation Army.
(From Oregon AFSCME Council
75.)
Wrong, wrong, wrong!
Senate GOP blocks student loan bill
By LIZ SHULER
Well, they did it again.
Senate Republican leaders last
month blocked Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s
(D-Mass.) bill that would let students
refinance their college loans. It’s not
the first time. They also did it in June.
Don’t they understand that student
loan debt is an emergency? It totals
$1.2 trillion — and yes, that’s with a
“T.” Sen. Warren’s bill would help 25
million student loan borrowers, saving
them each an average of $2,000.
It would help them, if not for the Re-
publican leaders’ refusal to allow a vote
on the bill. Once again, the Republi-
cans are choosing to protect their mil-
lionaire and billionaire friends — you
see, Warren’s bill would be paid for by
implementing the “Buffett Rule,”
which would close tax loopholes for
the super-wealthy.
Student loan debt is destroying lives
and futures, saddling the average stu-
dent borrower with about a $30,000
debt. Combine heavy debt with the
tight job market and lousy pay students
are graduating into and it’s devastating.
The soaring costs of college and
shrinking share of government aid also
are discouraging young people — es-
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
L IZ S HULER
pecially low-income young people —
from going to college altogether. How
unfair that is, while the constant,
pounding message to poor people is to
pull themselves up by their bootstraps
and get an education if they want to
land a well-paying job.
And it gets worse. Thanks to artifi-
cially high interest rates, our govern-
ment actually profits hugely from stu-
dent loans, pulling in way more than
the costs. Lower interest rates would
make repaying loans easier, but those
profits are used as revenue the govern-
ment could otherwise get by closing
corporate tax loopholes.
Beyond the harm to student borrow-
ers’ lives, the student debt crisis is drag-
ging on our whole economy. Burdened
with debt, young people can’t even
think about taking the next steps into
adulthood—moving out of their par-
ents’ homes, getting a car, buying a
house, saving for retirement, starting a
business and just purchasing the goods
that keep our consumer economy
afloat.
Whether you’re a taxpayer, in
school yourself, a grad or worried
about your children, this is an issue
worth caring about.
But the fate of Warren’s bill should-
n’t be a surprise. It’s not unique. Senate
Republicans also recently blocked the
Paycheck Fairness Act. For the third
time. I guess these are the kind of votes
affecting working people that Senate
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
calls political “show votes.”
Shutting down student loan debt re-
lief and denying equal pay? That’s just
flat wrong, no matter what party you’re
in. Issues like these are too important
to draw a red or blue line through —
but the young people I talk with
throughout the country are keeping
score. Will this issue mobilize the
youth vote in 2014? Will it be the vehi-
cle they use to register their anger and
make change? I hope so!
(Liz Shuler is secretary treasurer of
the national AFL-CIO and a member
of Portland-based IBEW Local 125.
This article originally appeared in
MomsRising.org, an online grassroots
organization working to achieve eco-
nomic security for all moms, women,
and families in the United States.)
PAGE 11