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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (May 4, 2018)
PAGE 12 | May 4, 2018 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS Sam Gillispie signs out Sam Gillispie, 69, is retiring af- ter a 43-year career in the union movement: 25 years at AF- SCME and 18 years at United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 555. Gillispie was born in Chehalis, Wash., April 28, 1949, the third of five children. He grew up in Onalaska and Mor- ton, where both sides of his family worked in logging and in saw mills. It was well-paid but dangerous work. Two cousins died from injuries on the job. Gillispie briefly worked at the Tubafor saw mill, but at the urg- ing of his family, got out by at- tending Green River Commu- nity College in Auburn and Central Washington University in Ellensburg, graduating in 1973 with a degree in political science. At a company-owned Chevron in Ellensburg he be- came a shop steward with the independent Standard Station Employees Union, but was fired in Spring 1973 after fighting company violations of the con- tract. The union took case to ar- bitration, and three years later he won back pay. In 1974, he got a job at the City of Portland, and went to work as a laborer doing janitor- ial work at the Public Works de- partment facility, represented by Laborers Local 483. His cousin Donovan Boyd was the presi- dent of AFSCME Local 189, which represents City workers. With Boyd’s help, Gillispie was hired at AFSCME Council 75 in 1975, representing road depart- ment units in Eastern Oregon. Gillispie says he represented the first unit to strike after pub- lic employee strikes became le- gal under Oregon law: a six week strike over wages and ...Multiemployer pension plans From Page 11 provided in the form of an email attachment (either in Microsoft Word or text-searchable PDF file). The email containing the at- tachment should clearly indicate the name(s) of the author(s), con- tact information and any profes- sional affiliation. The Joint Select Committee on Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans was established by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018.The committee must vote on a report containing a detailed statement of its findings, conclu- sions, and recommendations by Nov. 30. For more information about the Joint Select Committee go to: https://www.pensions.senate.gov/ benefits by Hood River Road Department workers. Within the AFL-CIO, Gillispie became known for his political campaign skills, debate ability, and knowledge of par- liamentary procedure. At the Oregon AFL-CIO’s 1975 con- vention, he helped Machinists leader Bob Kennedy defeat in- cumbent Dean Killian for the presidency — after Killian complained that public em- ployee union raises come out of working people’s taxes. And at what’s now North- west Oregon Labor Council, he was elected vice president and served as president from 1980 to 1988, taking pride in the swiftness of his gavel. There were setbacks: In 1988 he took a job as associate direc- tor of AFSCME Council 40 in Wisconsin, not realizing the di- rector had wanted to hire some- one else. The relationship never worked out, and he returned to Oregon in 1991 and went back to work for the City. In 1996, Ken Allen hired him back at AFSCME. And in 2000, Gene Pronovost recruited him to work for UFCW Local 555. Gillispie also served 20 years as an elected member of the North Clackamas School Board, and spent many years as a high school basketball and football referee. Having worked for unions in both public and private sector, Gillispie says there’s no ques- tion private sector is more chal- lenging, especially grocery, where high turnover and a low profit margin make for a chal- lenging environment. His most recent assignments were grievance director and union rep for members in Clackamas County. His official last day is May 18. After that, he and his wife Nancy Fleming are moving to Minnesota.