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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.