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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 3, 2021)
PAGE 2 | December 3, 2021 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS (International Standard Serial Number 0894-444X) Established in 1900 in Portland, Oregon as a voice of the labor 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 ben- efit corporation owned by 20 unions and councils includ- ing the Oregon AFL-CIO. Serving more than 120 union or- ganizations 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 affilia- tion, 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-ser- vices 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 CORRECTIONS In an article in our Nov. 19 issue about new leadership at AFSCME Local 88, we incor- rectly listed the trustees as Shirley Bailey, Gordon Long, and Jeanne Ramsten. Those were the local’s previous trustees.Local 88’s newly elected trustees are Jamie Chris- tianson and Darlena Hale. Hours: Mon-Sat 12-6 pm Closed Sunday UNION DEMOCRACY New leadership at Machinists District Lodge W24 Wayne Thompson has retired, and Brandon Bryant and Will Lukens are the new top officers. By Don McIntosh Machinists District Lodge W24 has a new set of top leaders fol- lowing recent retirements. Head- quartered in Gladstone, Oregon, the lodge serves 12 locals total- ing 8,800 members, from sawmill workers to automotive and aerospace machinists. Wayne Thompson retired Nov. 19 as the lodge’s top officer, president and directing business representative, and was suc- ceeded by Brandon Bryant. Business representative Will Lukens moves up to succeed Bryant in the number two posi- tion, assistant directing business representative. That followed the installation of Local 63 treasurer John Hall as W24’s secretary- treasurer, to succeed Caryn Kaufmann, who retired. All the new officers will serve until the next union officer elections, scheduled for December 2022. District Lodge W24 was cre- ated in 2011 via the merger of Machinists District Lodge 24 and Woodworkers District Lodge W1. Brandon Bryant, 51, comes In 2014 he came on staff at the from the woodworker side. In District Lodge as a full-time busi- 1993 he got a summer ness rep, handling con- job at the Simpson Lum- tracts in Washington and ber Company mill in later Oregon. When Tacoma. Born and raised Thompson became pres- in Tacoma, he’d earned ident of District Lodge associates degrees from W24 this February, he North American Baptist appointed Bryant as his College in Edmonton, number two. Alberta, and from Bryant lives in Fed- Tacoma Community eral Way, Washington, College. His goal was to Brandon Bryant and will stay near Glad- become a teacher. stone during the week. “My plan was for it to As a leader he plans to be a temporary job while stay the course, and em- I finished up school,” phasize organizing, and Bryant says. “But the serving members. union benefits paved the “I want to support way to a great life. I got other people to develop married and stayed on as much as they can. My working there for 23 job is to help everybody years. It helped provide else, all the way down to Will Lukens a great life for my fam- local presidents.” ily, raised two kids on a good As top officer, Bryant will rep- union salary.” resent the Machinists on the Ore- Urged on by a steward, Bryant gon AFL-CIO executive council. showed up to a union meeting He’ll also chair a union health and got active as a steward and trust and two pension trusts. bargaining team member in Lo- Will Lukens, 52, is from the cal W-9, which later merged into machinists side, and joined the W-157, and again into W-130. union in 2003 when he got a job “I realized that by getting in- at Auto Truck Transport. Encour- volved I can have a big effect on aged by union rep Bob Petroff, he other people and help their lives.” became a steward and bargaining team member in Local 63. In 2010 he came on staff and worked as an organizer. Over the next seven years, he learned first- hand how stacked the deck is when workers try to unionize and employers violate the law with impunity. At Eugene hunting bow manufacturer Bowtech, man- agers threatened to outsource to China. At airport baggage han- dling contractor ABM, the com- pany fired the lead union sup- porter. And after a union win at aircraft painter CAPS, Boeing cancelled its contract and the op- eration shut down. Lukens did have wins as well, including the Bradken Foundry in Chehalis and a nursing home in Sunnyside, Washington. In 2016, he was named organizer of the year for the Machinists’ western territory. After seven years, he moved into serving as a business rep, re- sponsible for negotiating and en- forcing contracts. He lives in Gresham with his wife Jill, who works as office manager of the NW Labor Press. Both Bryant and Lukens have undergone extensive training at the William Winpisinger Center, the national union’s training cen- ter in Maryland.
