NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | October 2, 2015 | PAGE 5
Old Glory rises
at IBEW Local
48 union hall
An American flag that once
flew over the U.S. Capitol in
Washington, D.C., has found a
home at IBEW Local 48’s union
hall in Northeast Portland.
Machinists protest firing of ABM employee
Members of the Machinists
Union picketed Portland Inter-
national Airport Sept. 18 to
protest the firing of union ac-
tivist Greg Morris. His em-
ployer, ABM Onsite Services,
refuses to recognize the union,
after a large majority of 25 em-
ployees voted to join the Ma-
chinists. Morris, 25, is a four-
year employee who was active
in the union campaign. He was
fired without cause on Aug. 20.
Joining Machinists business
reps Will Lukens and Bob
Petroff at PDX was Tom Cham-
berlain (left), president of the
Oregon AFL-CIO and a Port of
Portland commissioner. Also
pictured are Bobby Klein and
Mark Gagliardi. Both men were
in town for the UFCW Local
555 Shoot for a Cure sporting
clay shoot fundraiser for the
Leukemia and Lymphoma Soci-
ety. Klein is a retired business
rep for the Northwest California
Carpenters, and Gagliardi is
chief steward for Office and
Professional Employees Local
277 in California — and the vol-
unteer coordinator of the Shoot
for a Cure charity program.
The flag was dedicated Sept. 23
in a ceremony that included an
American Legion rifle volley
and color guard. Crystal Lariza
sang the national anthem as
the flag was raised.
Ed Barnes, a retired Local 48
business manager, donated the
flag to his union. It was a birth-
day gift to him from U.S. Sen.
Maria Cantwell. The flag flew
over the nation’s Capitol on Aug.
17 — Barnes’ birthday.
Current Local 48 Business Man-
ager Gary Young said the flag “is in honor to our
members who have passed away on the job.”
Soon, the union will sell bricks that members can
engrave with messages. The bricks will be laid in
the plot of land underneath the flagpoles. Money
raised will go to Local 48’s Sick Fund.
The American flag is displayed on a 30-foot flag-
pole. Flags of Oregon and Washington are hung
on adjacent 25-foot poles. Three floodlights were
installed on the roof of the union hall so that the
flags are illuminated at night.