Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 16, 2016)
PAGE 8 | December 16, 2016 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS Richards retires from Office and Professional Employees Local 11 VANCOUVER, Wash. — Mike Richards is retiring at the end of the year as executive secretary- treasurer (EST) of Office and Professional Employees Local 11. Richards is in the middle of his fourth term leading the 2,000-member local. Earlier this month, Local 11’s Executive Board selected busi- ness rep Maureen Colvin to fill out the remainder of the term, which expires in May 2017. Richards, 67, joined Local 11 in 1969 after helping to organize his co-workers in the Utility De- partment at the City of Vancou- ver. He was serving as a shop steward at the City when Local 11 hired him as a union rep in 1979. There, he was assigned to Consolidated Freightways, one of the largest bargaining units of the local until its bankruptcy in 2002. “Deregulation of the Mike Richards trucking industry is what al- lowed that to happen,” said Richards. He left Local 11 in 1990 to become director of field opera- tions for the Oregon School Em- ployees Association. The job re- quired lots of travel, keeping Happy Holidays from Letter Carriers Branch 82 him away from his family. After five years he returned to Local 11. In 2005 he was elected ex- ecutive secretary-treasurer, and has held the post ever since. In 2010, Local 11 purchased property in northwest Vancou- ver and built a 5,000-square- foot office building, moving from a rented office space in Northeast Portland. “It’s one of my biggest ac- complishments,” Richard said. Richards was born in Van- couver. He graduated from Hud- son’s Bay High School, dabbled briefly in community college, and worked several union jobs prior to his work at the City of Vancouver. He has held union cards with Iron Workers Local 516, Teamsters Local 58, and the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers. Richards has served on the Oregon AFL-CIO Executive Board, and as a trustee to several pension, 401(k), and health and welfare trusts. He is relinquish- ing his role in all of them. “I’ve been through some good times, and I’ve been through some really tough times,” he said. “But I’ve been here long enough. It’s time to let it go.” Maureen Colvin, 50, has been a union rep at Local 11 for the last decade. She has served the local as president, on the Exec- utive Board, and as a shop stew- ard. She joined the union in 1997 after taking a job as a court assistant for Clark County Dis- trict Court. She is a native of Vancouver, and a graduate of Fort Vancouver High School. “I’m honored that our Execu- tive Board has the confidence to ask that I step in as the interim Maureen Colvin executive secretary-treasurer of our union. With great pride, I ac- cept this task and will fully give 100 percent in sustaining the Turn to Page 15 Season’s Greetings from the Officers, Representatives and Office Staff of Machinists District W24 Santa’s Helpers for 241 Years! from the Columbia-Pacific Building & Construction Trades Council Willy Myers, Executive Secretary Treasurer Lodge 63 in Gladstone W38 in Shelton Lodge 1005 in Gladstone W130 in Centralia Lodge 1432 in Gladstone W536 in Longview W12 in Klamath Falls W98 in Arcata, California W246 in Springfield W364 in Lewiston, Idaho W261 in Central Point Local 88 in Butte, Montana International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers, Woodworkers, AFL-CIO
