NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | January 20, 2017 | PAGE 3
Portland Bakery Union member Shad Clark
made international VP for Western Region
DON’T END OBAMACARE. IMPROVE IT. A Portland gym overflowed
in one of a series of rallies Jan. 15 called by Bernie Sanders and Democ-
rats in Congress to defend Obamacare. When every space was taken
at the SEI gym, hundreds more rallied outside in the snow-filled street.
They heard from U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley (front left) and Ron Wyden
as well as U.S. Reps. Earl Blumenauer, Kurt Schrader and Suzanne
Bonamici. Blumenauer’s call for Oregon to look at a single payer sys-
tem got by far the loudest applause. Union nurses lined the stage’s
back row, including, from left: Elizabeth McPhee and Teri Mills of the
Oregon Nurses Association; Adrienne Enghouse of Oregon Federation
of Nurses and Health Professionals; and Travis Elmore of Washington
State Nurses Association.
Shad Clark, a member of Port-
land-based Bakers Local 114,
has been elected international
vice president for the Western
Region of Bakery, Confec-
tionery, Tobacco Workers and
Grain Millers (BCTGM). He
succeeds Randy Roark, who re-
tired Dec. 31, 2016.
Clark, 46, was elected by the
BCTGM General Executive
Board to complete the unex-
pired term of Roark, which runs
through December 2018.
As international vice presi-
dent, Clark’s primary duty will
be assisting Western Region lo-
cals in organizing and contract
bargaining campaigns. With the
title, Clark also will have a seat
on the BCTGM General Exec-
utive Board, and he will be a
union trustee on health and wel-
fare plans and pension funds.
The Western Region covers
locals in Oregon, Washington,
California, Montana, Idaho, Ne-
vada, New Mexico, Colorado,
Wyoming, Utah, and Arizona.
Shad Clark
It’s a diverse membership, rang-
ing from big industrial bakeries
to Boise sugar beet factory
workers to Bay Area employees
of Ghirardelli, See’s Candy, and
American Licorice (makers of
Red Vines).
Clark has worked as an inter-
national representative for the
Western Region since June
2015. Prior to that he was a
business agent at Local 114.
Clark was born in Honolulu,
but grew up in Portland, where
he has a long history as a union
worker and activist. His mother
was a member of the Oregon
Nurses Association. According
to Clark, growing up he often
helped her at the office stuffing
envelopes and other union tasks.
And the BCTGM has been a
part of his life for many years
prior to his joining the union. His
father, Pat Clark, served as sec-
retary-treasurer of Local 364 in
Portland. In his youth, Clark
spent time as a member of the
Machinists Union working sum-
mer jobs at the Portland ship-
yard.
Clark earned a bachelors de-
gree in human resources at
Winthrop University under a
soccer scholarship. He later
worked at Franz Bakery in Port-
land, where he became a mem-
ber of Local 114. He has served
the local as president, recording
secretary, and on the Executive
Board.
“It’s an honor to take over the
legacy of Randy Roark, who
has been on staff for 35 years,”
Clark said.”
Building Trades Council joins group challenging
Portland’s ban on new fossil fuel terminals
Maurice “Mo” Starks
Tragedy strikes Cement
Masons Local 555 ... again
More tragedy has struck the
small Cement Masons union in
Portland. On Dec. 27, Local 555
member Maurice “Mo” Starks
was killed in a roll-over car
crash on I-405 in Portland.
Starks, 30, was pronounced
dead at the scene and his girl-
friend, Krystle Lenae Webster,
26, was hospitalized with non-
life threatening injuries.
A week earlier — on Dec. 21
— longtime Local 555 member
Chris Brown lost his wife and
home to a fire. Gayle Brown was
a member of United Food and
Commercial Workers Local 555.
Chris Brown received burns on
his hands and arms, and broken
bones in his foot. He has been
off work since the mishap.
According to news reports on
the car accident, Starks was ex-
iting the Fremont Bridge on the
Kerby Avenue off-ramp when he
failed to negotiate a curve, struck
a barrier and went over it before
crashing into another one.
Police said speed may have
been a factor in the crash.
Starks came to Portland from
Tennessee. He joined Local 555
as an apprentice, and turned out
as a journeyman cement mason
in August 2015.
Geoff Kossak, a business
agent at Local 555, told KOIN 6
News that Starks “worked very
very hard at it (training) and he
was very appreciative of the in-
struction he got. He was cared
about very much and he was just
a kid.”
Starks leaves behind a young
son and a daughter.
“It’s just a sad day, a real
shock,” Kossak said. “I received
a phone call from his brother-in-
law in Tennessee. It just left me
devastated.”
A GoFundMe page raised
$4,250 to help pay for funeral
expenses, and to transport
Stark’s body back to Tennessee.
The Columbia Pacific Building
and Construction Trades Coun-
cil has joined a coalition chal-
lenging a new City of Portland
ordinance that restricts the de-
velopment and expansion of
bulk fossil fuel terminals.
The yet-to-be-named coali-
tion includes the Portland Busi-
ness Alliance and a wide range
of businesses along the Portland
Harbor that are part of another
group, the Working Waterfront
Coalition.
The ordinance, sponsored by
out-going mayor Charlie Hales,
changes zoning codes in order
to halt the construction of new
large fossil fuel terminals — and
the expansion of existing facili-
ties — within city limits.
The ordinance passed City
Council Dec. 14 by a unani-
mous vote.
Willy Myers, executive sec-
retary of the Columbia Pacific
Building Trades Council and
spokesman for the coalition,
said the new zoning ordinance
was done in violation of Ore-
gon’s land-use laws.
“It’s not only bad policy for
the citizens of Portland, but also
to the entire state, since 90 per-
cent of all the basic fuels we
consume pass through the City,”
Myers said in a press statement.
Myers said that disallowing
new fossil fuel infrastructure
within the City of Portland
“could create an energy bottle-
neck in meeting the needs of
businesses and households
across the state and lead to in-
creased costs if supply is con-
strained, which could hamper
economic growth.”
The coalition is preparing to
file a petition for review with the
Land Use Board of Appeals
(LUBA).
Washington state lawmakers introduce bills to
guarnatee paid family and medical leave
Bills have been introduced in
the Washington state House and
Senate to give new parents and
those who are sick or caring for
a loved one paid time off from
work. A coalition of legislators,
business owners, parents and
advocates announced the pro-
posal to bring paid family and
medical leave to the state in
Olympia on Jan. 10.
State Rep. June Robinson of
Everett, sponsor of House Bill
1116, says paid leave has advan-
tages, both for employers and
employees.
If the bill passes, employees
would have 26 weeks of paid
leave to care for a newborn or
newly-adopted baby or an ill
family member, starting in
2019. In 2020, employees could
take up to 12 weeks of paid
medical leave to tend to their
own health conditions. The pro-
gram would be funded through
a payroll deduction, costing em-
ployers and workers about $2 a
week.
State Sen. Karen Keiser is
supporting the companion bill,
Senate Bill 5032.
Three states currently have
paid family and medical leave
laws on the books: California,
New Jersey and Rhode Island.
New York will join them in
2018.