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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 2017)
PAGE 10 | September 1, 2017 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS UNION DEMOCRACY Laborers Local 737 elects its first business manager Laborers Local 737 members elected Zack Culver as business manager Aug. 17 in their first completed union officer election as a merged local. Culver outpolled Dave “Boo Boo” Clark 250 to 101. Local 737 has roughly 2,600 mem- bers, includ- ing all union laborers in building and road con- Zack Culver struction in the state of Oregon, about 200 Portland shipyard laborers, about 200 employees at 18 small public employers around Oregon, and 350 retirees. It was created Sept. 21, 2015, with the merger of Local 296, Local 320 and Local 121 of the Laborers International Union of North America (LiUNA). On Oct. 28, 2015 — about month after the merger became official — the local was placed under supervision by the inter- national union. Laborers North- west Regional Manager Bob Abbott was named supervisor, and Culver served as assistant supervisor. Local 737 was re- leased from supervision Feb. 28, 2017, with Culver serving as business manager until the elec- tion. An initial officer election was held June 15, but the union opted to re-run the election after several election challenges were filed. The vote results were the same the second time around: Culver and all members of the “Team 737” slate of incumbents won office. Culver, 37, grew up in Gales Creek and graduated from For- est Grove High School. He joined Laborers Local 296 at the age of 18 in June 1998, and worked in the field for 16 years, most of that time doing concrete work. After attending Labor Day picnics and union holiday parties, he became interested in the life of the union and started attending meetings. In 2007 he was elected to the executive board, and later won re-election to that and other offices. Now, as business manager, he oversees local union field agents and office staff, and as secre- tary-treasurer, he’s responsible for financial reporting. Culver said he hopes over the next three years to continue to sign new contractors and grow the local to as many as 3,000 members Construction work is boom- ing. Local 737 has over 200 ap- prentices and is actively recruit- ing more. [Apply online at oregonlaborers.com/apply] Af- ter a two-year, 4,000 hour ap- prenticeship, they earn journey- man laborer wages of $28.86 an hour plus $13 an hour for fringe benefits like pension and health insurance. Other Local 737 officer elec- tion results: ■ President: Matthew Jensen ran unopposed ■ Vice president: Greg Held ran unopposed ■ Recording secretary: Mitch Ricker outpolled Jodi Guetzloe-Parker 235 to 188 ■ Executive Board: For the three board spots, Gary Moore, Gary Jackson, and Brandon Jordan ran unopposed ■ Sergeant at arms: Rick Ohmie ran unopposed ■ Auditor: For the three auditor spots, Jeff Olson, Jeff Gritz, and Ben Guzman outpolled Carolyn Shaffer ■ Delegates to the District Council: Greg Held, Gary Jackson, Gary Moore, and Mathew Jensen outpolled Jodi Guetzloe- Parker for four spots NATIONAL Missouri AFL-CIO turns in signatures to refer right-to- work law to voters in 2018 To put a repeal of Missouri’s new right-to-work law on the 2018 ballot, unions needed to collect just over 100,000 signa- tures by Aug. 28. On Aug. 18, they turned in more than 310,000. The signatures will go out to local county clerks for ver- ification, likely by November. The term right-to-work refers to state laws that outlaw any union contract that requires workers to pay dues or fees to the union that represents them. Right-to-work is intended to weaken unions by starving them of resources. In February, the Legislature passed a law making Missouri a right-to-work state. Now voters will have a chance to weigh in. UA LOCAL 290 REPRESENTED AT HOOD TO COAST RELAY: A dozen apprentices from Plumbers and Fitters Local 290 put together a team to run in the Hood to Coast relay race Aug. 25 - 26. Along the way they raised $10,000 for the Portland Police Bureau’s Sunshine Division. Hood To Coast is a grueling 199 -mile long relay race that starts at Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood and ends on the Ore- gon Coast at Seaside. A capacity 1,050 teams consisting of 12 runners compete in the race. “This was entirely planned and organized by the apprentices themselves,” said Bob DeGraw, assistant steam- fitter program coordinator. “All of the members and staff of Local 290 are very proud of their motiva- tion and accomplishment.”
