Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 3, 2014)
Roofers Local 49 defends title at Labor Day blood drive 40 YEARS AND COUNTING Labor’s Community Service Agency has spent the last four decades reaching out to help those in need Labor’s Community Service Agency (LCSA) celebrated its 40th anniversary last month. A non-profit organization funded primarily by United Way of the Colum- bia-Willamette, LCSA operates under the auspices of the Northwest Oregon Labor Council and a 16-person board of directors. The agency works with an array of community-based and govern- mental organizations throughout Ore- gon and Southwest Washington to pro- vide education, information, referral services, and social service programs. LCSA’s executive director is Vickie Burns. She is the fourth person to serve as director since the agency was founded July 5, 1974. From the initial meeting minutes on record, the first LCSA “membership meeting” was held Dec. 3, 1974, at which time “the Chairman of the Nom- inating Committee” recommended a slate for the first board of directors and its officers. The slate included: John Wilson, president; Earl Kirkland, 1st vice president (executive secretary of the Columbia Pacific Building Trades Council); Janet Baumhover, 2nd vice president (a retired member of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists); Sue Pisha, secretary (Communications Workers of Amer- ica); and Thomas Jack Baker, treasurer (executive secretary-treasurer of the then Multnomah County Labor Coun- cil). Wilson steered the agency through the bureacracy, getting it registered as a charitable corporation and trust, estab- lishing its 501(c)3 status, filing for tax exemption, and negotiating the first contract with what was then United Good Neighbors (which became United Way in 1975.) Wilson resigned in November of 1975. At that time he recommended the agency’s president and its director should be two separate positions. On Nov. 26, 1975, a special committee of the board recommended that Del Ricks, then executive vice president of the Oregon State Industrial Union Council, become the executive director. Ricks was officially appointed to the post on Dec. 15, 1975. Ricks suffered a heart attack in July 1992 and was unable to return to work. Glenn Shuck of the Steelworkers Union took over as interim director. LCSA’s Executive Board appointed him executive director in February 1993. Shuck was introduced to LCSA in 1983 during a lengthy Steelworkers strike at Oregon Steel Mills in Portland. The strike ended badly, with the union busted in 1984. The mill closed in 1985. Vickie Burns (right), executive director of Labor’s Community Service Agency, and Bob Tackett, executive secretary-treasurer of the Northwest Oregon Labor Council, celebrate LCSA’s 40th anniversary at their office at 9955 SE Washington St., Suite 211, Portland. After that happened, Shuck began working with Labor’s Community Service Agency on a pilot program that Ricks had arranged with Mt. Hood Community College to assist laid off workers transition into new jobs. LCSA has been contracted to provide dislo- cated worker services ever since. The funding has held up through various legislation: The Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA), Workforce In- vestment Act (WIA), and now the new Workforce Innovations and Opportuni- ties Act, Burns said. Shuck retired in June 2010 and Burns, a member of Office and Profes- sional Employees Local 11, was hired to succeed him. She had been the office manager of LCSA since 1993. Under Burns’ leadership, LCSA ex- tensively promotes United Way’s an- nual fundraising campaign. She also serves on United Way’s Campaign Cab- inet. She revamped the agency’s Help- ing Hands program to make it easier for union officials to refer members in need, and has boosted the annual Pres- ents from Partners toy drive and distri- bution program. She also launched a web site and Facebook page for the agency. Her office manager is Eryn Byram, also a member of Local 11. For 40 years, United Way funding has allowed LCSA to meet the needs of the community through volunteer train- ing programs, union counselor courses, blood drives, community family dinner nights, emergency assistance, holiday meals, Presents From Partners, and La- bor in the Pulpits, to name only a few. Here’s to the next 40 years! Union members from 21 union lo- cals donated 56 pints of blood to the American Red Cross at this year’s La- bor Day picnic at Oaks Park. The second annual Labor for Life blood drive is sponsored by the North- west Oregon Labor Council and La- bor’s Community Service Agency. It is a competition in which the labor or- ganization whose members donate the most units of blood get its name put on a perpetual trophy. Roofers Local 49, which won bragging rights last year, success- fully defended their title, with six members donating blood. They were followed closely by Mult- nomah County Employees (AF- SCME) Local 88, in second place, and Teamsters Local 162 and United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555, tied for third. According to Red Cross, every two seconds someone in America gets a blood transfusion. Five mil- lion patients will need blood this year. One pint of blood can save up to three lives. Nurses and support staff at the Oregon Trail Chapter of the Ameri- can Red Cross are members of Ore- gon Nurses Association and Team- sters Local 223. IRS PROBLEMS? • Haven’t filed for ... years? • Lost records? • Liens - Levies - Garnishments? • Negotiate settlements. • Prepare offer in Compromise. Call Nancy D. Anderson Enrolled Agent NPTI Fellow/America’s Tax Expert LTC-1807 www.nancydanderson.com 503-244-2577 (International Standard Serial Number 0894-444X) Established in 1900 at Portland, Oregon as a voice of the labor movement. 4275 NE Halsey St., P.O. Box 13150, Portland, Ore. 97213 Telephone: (503) 288-3311 Editor: Michael Gutwig Staff: Don McIntosh, Cheri Rice Published on a semi-monthly basis on the first and third Fridays of each month by the Oregon Labor Press Publishing Co. Inc., a non- profit corporation owned by 19 unions and councils including the Oregon AFL-CIO. Serving more than 80 union organizations in Ore- gon and SW Washington. Subscriptions $13.75 per year for union members. Group rates available to trade union organizations. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT PORTLAND, OREGON. CHANGE OF ADDRESS NOTICE: Three weeks are required for a change of address. When ordering a change, please give your old and new addresses and the name and number of your local union. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS, P.O. BOX 13150, PORTLAND, OR 97213-0150 OCTOBER 3, 2014 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS PAGE 3
