NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS |
November 17, 2017 | PAGE 7
PEOPLE
Glaziers Local 740 honors Bill Vonderohe with
‘Lifetime Achievement’ Award
The longtime recording secretary
has missed only two union
meetings in over 55 years
W.H. (Bill) Vonderohe received
a Lifetime Achievement Award
from Glaziers Local 740. The
presentation was made by
Business Manager Todd
Springer at the union’s mem-
bership meeting on Oct. 5.
Vonderohe, 79, joined Local
740 as an apprentice on Nov.
27, 1962. Within five years he
ran for, and was elected, a
trustee of the local.
“I remember my first em-
ployer advised me not to get in-
volved in union politics. Boy,
was he wrong,” Vonderohe told
the Labor Press.
In 1971, Vonderohe was
tapped as recording secretary,
finishing out the term of the in-
cumbent, who had passed
away. He has been re-elected to
that post ever since.
Vonderohe retired in 1999,
but has remained active in the
union. In addition to recording
secretary, he still serves as a
trustee on the Glaziers’ pension
plan, and he chairs the local’s
Retirees Club. He was a trustee
on the health and welfare fund,
but had to give that up once he
Bill Vonderohe, left, receives a Lifetime Achievement Award from Glaziers
Local 740 Business Manager Todd Springer. Vonderohe has served as
recording secretary of the union for 50 years.
became eligible for Medicare.
During his career, Von-
derohe has worked with six
business managers at Local
740. He says he’s missed only
two union meetings in his life-
time — and that was because
he was working out of town.
“Brother Vonderohe is one
of the most respected members
in all of Local 740’s 106
years,” Springer said. “He has
been a member in good stand-
ing for over half of our exis-
tence at 55 years and counting.
He’s a wealth of knowledge to
our membership.”
POST VETERANS DAY PARADE
RALLY. More than three dozen
veterans, union members, and
community activists held a rally
Nov. 11 following the annual Veter-
ans Day Parade in Portland’s Holly-
wood District. The protesters, most
of whom marched in the parade,
called on the Department of Veter-
ans’ Affairs to “Staff the VA” and op-
pose current efforts to privatize the
agency. The American Federation
of Government Employees (AFGE),
which represents VA employees in
Portland and across the nation,
says there are roughly 49,000 va-
cancies in the VA system nation-
wide. The Portland VA Hospital has been slow to share current vacancy
information with Portland-based AFGE Local 2157. Protesters encour-
aged the community to call the Portland VA and request that they re-
lease the information. Kimberly Bump, event organizer and vice presi-
dent of Local 2157 at the Portland VA, pointed out that Congress has
been eager to give billions of dollars to the Choice Program, which pays
for veterans to see private doctors, while not addressing needs of the
VA. “We dedicate our lives to caring for veterans,” said Bump. “For this
president and this Congress to send more resources into the private
sector, while ignoring a staffing crisis in the VA, is a national disgrace.”
RECOGNIZING VETERANS. IBEW Local 125 members employed at
Portland General Electric unfurl a flag at the company’s headquarters
in downtown Portland Nov. 10 in recognition of Veterans Day. The
union encourages veterans who want to learn more about the IBEW
and possible career opportunities to contact Local 125 at 503-262-9125.