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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 18, 2020)
PAGE 2 | September 18, 2020 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS (International Standard Serial Number 0894-444X) Established in 1900 in Portland, Oregon as a voice of the la- bor movement. Published on a semi-monthly basis on the first and third Fridays of each month by the Oregon Labor Press Publishing Co. Inc., a non-profit mutual benefit corpo- ration owned by 20 unions and councils including the Ore- gon AFL-CIO. Serving more than 120 union organizations in Oregon and Southwest Washington. Office location: 4275 NE Halsey St., Portland, Oregon Mailing address: P.O. Box 13150, Portland, OR 97213 Phone: (503) 288-3311 Web address: https://nwlaborpress.org Editor & Manager: Michael Gutwig Senior staff reporter: Don McIntosh Office manager: Jill Lukens Printed on recycled paper, using soy-based inks, by members of Teamsters Local 747-M. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Individual subscriptions are $15 a year for union members, $23 a year for all others. Pay by credit card online at nwlaborpress.org/subscribe, or send a check to our mailing address (above) along with your name, address and union affiliation, if any. Group rates of 48 cents an issue per member — $11.52 a year are available for 25 or more subscriptions; call 503-288-3311 for details. CORRECTIONS: See an error? Please let us know at editor@nwlaborpress.org or by phone at 503-288-3311. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT PORTLAND, OREGON. CHANGE OF ADDRESS: If you move, let us know at nwlaborpress.org/subscriber-services or by mail at our mailing address (above). Be sure to provide your old and new addresses and the name/number of your local union. Please allow three weeks for the change to take effect. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS P.O. BOX 13150 PORTLAND, OR 97213-0150 Register to Vote! In Oregon, the deadline to regis- ter to vote is Tuesday, Oct. 13. You can register online, by mail, or in person. If registering by mail, it must be postmarked by Oct. 13. In Washington, the deadline to register online is Monday, Oct. 26. The deadline for registering by mail is (received by) Monday, Oct. 26. The deadline to register in person is Tuesday, Nov. 3. The deadline to update an existing voter registra- tion with a new name or address is Monday, Oct. 26. You can also register and vote on Election Day. Election day is Tuesday, Nov. 3 ...Firefighter for the House From Page 1 nual fire camp for young women. It’s now in its 10th year. One winter, she realized TVF&R was getting lots of 911 calls to check on unhoused peo- ple, and it was putting a burden on the system. So with support from her union, she started a free clinic for houseless resi- dents of Tigard and King City. Every Saturday from November to March she volunteers at a space in Tigard’s severe weather shelter to do triage and foot care, and she partners with county health officers to provide flu shots and vaccinations. She also became one of the most active volunteers in the union’s political program, and traveled to Salem repeatedly to testify on legislation. In May 2019, she was at the Capitol with her fellow IAFF members when she got a text: “Come to the gallery.” Democrats were preparing to vote on a bill to cut contributions to public em- ployee retirement accounts. “All the firefighters, we were all in uniform … We stood there while they screwed us over. We wanted them to have to bear witness that these are the faces of the people doing the work.” Now one of those faces will most likely be heading to the Capitol as a legislator. Grayber got the idea to run for office from her own state representa- tive, staunch labor ally Margaret Doherty. After spending a day at the Portland Metro Fire Camp, Doherty told Grayber she was planning to retire, and suggested she run to replace her. “I laughed,” Grayber recalls. “I came home that night and told my husband, ‘Rep Doherty said the craziest thing to me.’ And he looked at me and said, ‘Oh my god, why wouldn’t you?’ I said, ‘Because I’m not a politician.’” Then it dawned on her: “I look at the world my kids are about to inherit. I look at the things I’ve fought for. When I go to work and someone’s hav- ing the worst day of their life, I have the ability to tackle that head-on and make things better one call at a time.” Being in the Legislature, she’d have a chance to make things better on a much bigger scale. Sponsored by her union, Grayber enrolled in the Oregon Labor Candidates School, and learned the nuts and bolts of run- “All these things that we could kind of politely ignore and talk around, we can’t do that any more. The patient is bleed- ing out. Let’s get to work.” — Firefighter Dacia Grayber, running for HD 35 ning a political campaign. She graduated March 7, just as the pandemic hit. Now co-workers, even some conservative ones, are rooting for her. Grayber tends to swear, so they’re preparing her for the Legislature with a swear jar. “Every time I drop an f-bomb, I have to put a dollar in.” House District 35 covers all of Tigard, some of Southwest Port- land, and a little sliver of Clacka- mas County. “It’s a strong labor district, a lot of labor households,” Grayber says. “I’m excited by that. It’s a lot of working class folks.” Her opponent, conservative Republican Bob Niemeyer, got just 33% of the vote in his chal- lenge to Doherty two years ago, but Grayber’s supporters aren’t taking chances. As of early Sep- tember, her campaign had raised $116,000, including over $55,000 from her union’s local, state and national political action committees, and cash and in- kind support from a dozen other unions. Niemeyer has raised just $1,500. If Grayber wins, she’ll fight to expand health coverage, afford- able housing, and public trans- portation infrastructure. She’ll push to lower college tuition, re- duce carbon emissions, and build more renewable energy. Having been the one who had to tell a mother her child was dead due to gun violence, she wants common sense gun violence reduction measures, like secure storage of firearms. She wants police re- form. She wants a more equi- table tax code. She wants Oregon to be better prepared for earth- quakes and wildfires. The work ahead is urgent. Grayber likens it to her work as a firefighter. “Right now the en- tire building is on fire, and people are jumping out the window. We have this emergency in our state, and across the nation.” MORE ABOUT HER CAMPAIGN DaciaForOregon.com
