3
The President's Message
By BJA RN E ERIÇKSEN
Now that the ,44th session of the
Oregon Legislative; Assembly has ad
journed all state employees I are, anxious
to learn about the action taken by that
body on the legislation which the As
sociation sponsored and endorsed; Mr.
V. G. O’Neil, Public Relations Direc
tor^ and his committee delayed the pub
lication of this issue of your magazine
in order to include that information
for you.
Full credit for the good results which
were accomplished must be given to
our legal counsel, Mr. Leo Smith, our
Executive Secretary, Mr. Forrest V.
Stewart and Mr. I. A. DeFrance1j and
his Legislative Committee. These men
did outstanding work in their success
ful presentation of our program be-
‘ fore the various committees and the in
dividual members Of the legislature.
Those of us who were in close touch
with the progress of our legislative pro
gram are convinced that the Associa-*
tionVSs’, thè moU effective type of re-'
presentation for Oregon State Em
ployees. This conclusion is based on the
favorable action that was taken on most
of the legislation which we sponsored
or endorsed, as well as the consideration
We received when our position was ex
plained on bills that we believed to be
detrimental to the best interests of' the
employees.
i The fact that the Civil Service Pay
Plan became effective March 1.1 1947
is due principally to the able manner
in which our legal counsel presented
I the case of the state employees to the
members of the legislative committee.
Studying salaries in the State Service
and adoption of the Pay Plan results
in a material increase in beginning sal
aries for most classes of work. The max
imum salaries are also considerably high
er than ever before, and employees have
a definite objective to be reached by
conscientious effort and meritous ser
vice’.
We recognize that the new .salary
Björne Erickson
ranges, for most positions, are lower
than those received |>y California and
Washington state employees;, which
states have a sales tax. If Oregon state
employees are to attain pay parity with
those adjoining states, and secure ade
quate retirement benefits iri is necessary
for each of us to support a tax program
that Will provide the necessary reve
nues. This action was advocated by
resolution at our last General Council
meeting.
The legislature," after making in, ex
haustive survey of sources of revenue
and the general tax program, conclud
ed that the sales tax should be incor
porated as an integral part of the States
tax structure. It appears to be the only
logical Source of new revenue neces
sary to pay the increased costs of edu
cation, welfare and general government.
We sincerely believe that it is your re
sponsibility as a state employee to ac
tively support the legislature in its
recommendation for the adoption of the
sales tax.
(Continued on page 4)