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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.”