PAGE 24 | August 21, 2020 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
A 1980 strike by Multnomah County Employees Local 88 lasted 38 days.
CWA members picket Pacific North-
west Bell in August 1983 as part of
nationwide strike at Ma Bell.
Organized labor—with the Oregon Labor Press leading the campaign—was
credited by Gov. Bob Straub for saving taxpayers millions of dollars on con-
struction of the new floating drydock at the Portland Ship Repair Yard. The
Port’s drydock bid “was influenced by labor pounding on the door and saying
the bid better be under $20 million,” Straub said.
1973: Proposals of Governor’s Task Force on
Collective Bargaining adopted to provide bar-
gaining structure for public employees. Em-
ployment discrimination against handicapped
banned. Dean Killion elected president of
Oregon AFL-CIO. Long lines form at gas sta-
tions during oil embargo. Labor Council for
Latin American Advancement founded. 1974:
Machinists District 24 organized by seven
Oregon and Southwest Washington locals.
general’s office asked by Gov. Straub to in-
vestigate financial affairs of bankrupt Port-
land Labor Center. Mini-park on Swan Island
named for the late Henry McCarthy, former
executive secretary of Portland Metal Trades
Council. Oregon AFSCME Council 75 dou-
bles its membership. Labor works for pas-
sage of $84 million bond issue for construc-
tion of 982-foot drydock for Port of Portland’s
Swan Island ship repair facility. 1977: Report
by Attorney General Jim Redden on financial
difficulties suffered by Portland Labor Center
says that bookkeeping by the operating
firm—Great Western Mortgage—from 1973
to 1975 was “non-existent,” but there are no
recommendations for criminal prosecutions.
Vietnamese immigrants back organization by
Machinists of Colton battery plant. Strikes hit
Safeway, Fred Meyer, Greyhound and Boe-
ing. Legislature establishes Labor Education
Second building proposed for land occupied
by Portland Labor Center. Coalition of Labor
Union Women founded. 1975: Recession
starts. Building trades discuss state lottery as
possible source of revenue to offset rising
property taxes. Building trades incensed by
Portland Mayor Neil Goldschmidt’s decision
not to build Mt. Hood Freeway on Portland’s
east side. Robert G. Kennedy elected presi-
dent of Oregon AFL-CIO. 1976: Attorney
Machinists Union Racing was a
CART Indy Car team owned by
the International Association of
Machinists and Aerospace Work-
ers from 1981 to 1990. All team
members were card-carrying
members of the IAM. The team
competed in the G.I. Joe’s/Bud-
weiser Portland 200 at PIR in
1987.
Screen Actors Guild
president Ed Asner
walks 1986 Plaid
Pantry picket line in
Salem with mem-
bers of UFCW Local
555.
and Research Center (LERC) at University
of Oregon; creates Oregon Employment Re-
lations Board (ERB) to replace Public Em-
ployees Relations Board, and forms Metro-
politan Service District. Pacific Northwest
Labor College established in Portland. 1978:
Portland Labor Center sold. Mary Wendy
Roberts, state senator from east Portland
and a former member of AFSCME, is elected
Oregon labor commissioner. Sue Pisha, first