NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | December 16 , 2016 | PAGE 23
RETIREES LUNCHEON: A record crowd of more
than 400 retirees of Amalgamated Transit Union
Local 757 attended the annual Retirees’ Christ-
mas luncheon Dec. 1. The response was so over-
whelming that the union had to change venues,
moving it to a banquet room at the Monarch
Hotel & Conference Center in Clackamas.
Hate crimes at work?
Oregon AFL-CIO says it
could be a union issue
Seated from left to right: Executive Secretary-Treasurer Bob Tackett, President Jeff Anderson, 1st Vice President Everice Moro. Standing from left to
right: Board members Terry Lansing, Sam Gillispie, Janet Irwin, Scott Zadow, Will Lukens, Dave Tully, and Sandy Gillis. Not pictured 2nd Vice President
Ed Barnes, and Board members Rose Etta Venetucci, Mike Pucik, Willy Myers and Mike Bridges.
F ROM T HE O FFICERS AND E XECUTIVE B OARD OF THE
N ORTHWEST O REGON L ABOR C OUNCIL
Following reports of hate inci-
dents and crimes in the media
and a recent report by the South-
ern Poverty Law Center show-
ing Oregon as having the highest
per capita rate of hate incidents
nationally in the two weeks fol-
lowing the November election,
the Oregon AFL-CIO has
pledged to take a stand against
hate incidents, particularly when
it happens in the workplaces.
The state labor federation’s
Executive Board on Dec. 2
passed a resolution calling for
the AFL-CIO to pursue a strat-
egy to help workers report hate
incidents and crimes and find re-
sources when their civil rights
are violated.
“The labor movement was
built on a simple but powerful
idea: when one person is
wronged, we are all wronged,”
said Oregon AFL-CIO President
Tom Chamberlain. “We are
hearing reports of hate incidents
and crimes happening more fre-
quently in the workplace. The
job of our federation and the job
of the labor movement is to help
working people stand together to
protect their rights, both civil and
economic.”
As part of the resolution, the
Oregon AFL-CIO will launch a
telephone hotline in the coming
weeks where workers can call to
report incidents and be directed
to appropriate resources. Infor-
mation about the hotline will be
available on the state federa-
tion’s website, www.oraflcio.org.
“We are going to focus on
providing tools for workers to
report these incidents and begin
training union representatives to
provide help directly to union
members in their workplaces,”
said Chamberlain. “It falls upon
those of us entrusted to stand up
for working people to do every-
thing we can to protect all of our
rights.”