February 1981
Page 5
Members ratify new name:
Oregon Public Employes Union
which is not a bargaining unit or
is a bargaining unit not
represented by OSEA, which
has over 50 members, shall
constitute one statew ide
chapter whose membership
shall be comprised of every
associate member of that
agency. All other non-bargain
ing unit agencies or bargaining
units not represented by OSEA
shall constitute one statewide
chapter.
Starting February 2, OSEA
will officially become the
Oregon Public Employes
Union. The name change was
passed by the 1980 General
Council and ratified by mem
bership on Jan. 26.
Formal changes on all union
documents and stationary will
take place gradually, as old
material will be used up to keep
expenses down.
In addition to the name
change, amendments to Article
IX, Section 3 were ratified on
Jan. 16, and Article V, Section 2,
Article VIII, Section 2 and
Article VI, Section 3 were
ratified on Jan. 24.
The following is a verbatim
transcript of the changes. Any
deleted material is (bracketed)
and any new material is in
boldface.
Article I is amended to read:
The name of this organization
is the (Oregon State Employes
Association) Oregon Public
Employes Union, hereinafter
referred to as the (Association)
Union.
And:
That all reference to “chap
ters” hereinafter be changed
to “locals” and that all ref
erence to “Association” be
changed to “Union” in the
Constitution and By Laws.
Article IX, Section 3 is
amended to read:
Section 3. Every person who
holds any office in the
Association and every employe
of the Association (other than
an employe performing ex
clusively clerical or custodial
services) shall file a report at
(c) Special chapters for
re tir e d people m ay be
established by a petition to the
district of 50 or more retired
employes residing in that
district.
(d) A regular chapter may
also be formed by affiliation of
an existing employe organ
ization with this Association.
Affiliation shall be by two-
thirds vote of the active
members of the organization
and shall be pursuant to an
affiliation agreement between
the organization and the
Association approved by the
Board and signed by the
President and Secretary-
Treasurer of the Association.
The affiliation agreement shall
provide, in addition to other
necessary provisions, that upon
payment of Association dues
and acceptance of the As
sociation Constitution and
By-Laws and other obligations
of Association membership by
the various members of the
organization qualifying for
active membership in the
Association, such members
shall be entitled to all the rights
Oc
of, and shall be, a c tiv e m em
tober 1 and November 1 of)
within 60 days after the final
day of General Council each
year listing and describing, for
the one-year period beginning
October 1 of the previous year.
Article V, Section 2 will be
deleted and replaced by:
Section 2. Chapters shall be
established in accordance with
the following procedure:
(a) Each bargaining unit
represented by OSEA shall
constitute one statew ide
chapter whose membership
shall be comprised of every
a c tiv e m em ber of the
Association employed in that
bargaining unit.
(b) Each agency of the state
bers of the Association and the
organization shall be entitled to
all the rights and subject to all
the obligations of, and shall be,
a regular chapter of the
Association. Upon signing of the
affiliation agreem ent, the
Board shall issue the chapter a
charter signed by the President
and the Secretary-Treasurer of
the Association.
And:
That sections 3 and 6 be deleted.
And:
That Sections 4, 5, 7, 8 and 9 be
renumbered as 3,4,5,6 and 7.
Article VIII, Section 2 is
amended to read:
Section 2. The membership roll
of General Council is deter
H eadquarters
(betw een
mined at each annual session
and consists of:
(a) Delegates from the
chapters;
(b) Delegates from the
districts;
(c) Past Presidents;
(d) Members of the Board;
(e) Delegates from special
retired chapters.
Eligibility for this membership
roll is limited to active mem
bers; - retired members who
were active members at the
time they retired; and Past
Presidents of the Association
who are active members, or are
retired members and were
active members at the time
they retired.
Article VI, Section 3 was
amended to read:
Section 3. A district shall form
council-type organizations
composed of (representatives
from the chapters) m em bers in
the district as provided in that
district’s constitution. The
District Council shall assist the
[chapters!
m em bers
in
the
district, maintain an effective
communication system bet
ween the Board of Directors
and the chapters, promote the
organization’s welfare in the
areas of government relations,
employe benefits and com
munity action, and carry out
any other provision of the
district constitution and by
laws not in conflict with the
Constitution and By-Laws of the
Association or the enactments
of General Council. (The
District Council shall approve
chapter m ergers, ensure
adequate Bargaining Unit
Representation Committee
(BURC) participation within
the district, enforce BURC
policies for selection and
removal of job representatives,
preside over impeachment of
chapter officers, encourage and
promote chapter membership,
maintain an effective com
munication system between the
Board of Directors and the
chapter membership and carry
out any other provisions of the
district constitution and by
laws not in conflict with the
Constitution and By-Laws of the
Association or the enactment of
General Council. To the extent
th a t any such d is tr ic t
organization provision is in
conflict, it is void.)
At Board meeting
Change asked
in investments
Millions of dollars of public
retirement funds may be ef
fected by an OSEA board of
director’s decision to ask the
state not to invest those funds
in South Africa or in real estate
outside of Oregon.
At its meeting on Jan. 17, the
board passed a resolution
opposing investments by the
state in South African financial
enterprises or in companies
doing business in South Africa.
’However, the Board’s op
position went beyond in
vestments by the state, its
agencies and employes in the
financial enterprises of South
Africa. It called for legislation
to “prohibit state investments
in corporations operating in
countries whose laws require
discrimination on the basis of
race, color or national origin.”
The board then resolved that
its position be forwarded to
the state AFL-CIO, with a
recommendation that the state
AFL-CIO endorse OSEA’s
proposed legislation.
Board members also ex
pressed their strong opposition
to the State Treasurer Clay
Myers* proposal to invest
PERS funds in real estate
ventures outside of Oregon.
Myers drew the board’s ire
by calling for investing $10-
million to $12-million in the
construction of a San Jose,
Calif., office building.
Myers defends his proposal,
saying that the investment will
diversify the state’s investment
portfolio and that it will
provide the state with an
alternative avenue of in
vestment at a time when stock
equities and long-term bonds
don’t appear as financially
alluring as they once did. He
also contends that the area of
commercial real estate can
provide a low-risk, high-return
investment of pension fund
dollars and that substantial
investments have already been
made in Oregon.
OSEA president voiced the
board’s displeasure in a
strongly-worded letter to the
State Treasurer.
"We recognize that a large
amount of PERS monies have
already been invested in
Oregon. But the fact remains
that our real estate market is
severely depressed, our home
building industry is suffering a
catastrophic decline, unem
ployment is as high as 36
percent in portions of the state
and our state budget is tighter
than at any point in recent
history. We must pursue every
avenue possible to correct
these problems.
“ While real estate in
vestment outside Oregon may
yield an additional percentage
or so, such investments do not
provide the ‘hidden yield’ of
assuring Oregon’s growth,
creating jobs and providing
additional tax dollars to the
state.
“In light of these facts, it is
the feeling of the Oregon State
Employes Association Board of
Directors that any real estate
investments outside the State
of Oregon during our present
lagging economy would not
only be untimely, but would be
extremely unwise.”
S ervin g a ll
o f O reg o n
I NOW IS j
Mo/or motions ot Jan. Board meeting
Following are the main
motions acted on at the reg
ular meeting of the OSEA
Board of Directors held in
Salem on Jan. 17.
Committee
Appointments
Government Relations—
Earl Beier, Henery Wilson
and Jeff Conniff.
Retirement: Lee Heindl.
Institutional Study: Jim
Kinzer (chairperson), Barry
Rudd.
Rules: Bud Graham
(chairperson), Digby Mar
row, Donna Peterson,
Shirley Bettencourt.
CASE Administration:
Terri Anderson.
Employe Representation:
Steve Teters.
Installations
The Board installed Ruth
Montgomery as director and
Henery Wilson as assistant
director of District 4. Kei
Quitevis was installed as
assistant director of District
1.
Other Action
In other major business,
the Board:
• Authorized Thomas Gal
lagher and the Executive
Committee to make the final
decision on our position in
the Oregon State Police
election.
• Tentatively approved
that one Board meeting be
held in Pendleton this
spring.
• Took a position oppos
ing investment by the State
of Oregon, its agencies and
employes in the financial
matters of South Africa and
called for legislation to
support this position. The
Board asked that its stand
ing on this matter be for
warded to the state AFL-
CIO with a recommendation
that it also support this
legislation.
• Instructed Deb Bolton to
inform State Treasurer Clay
M y e rs
of
O SE A ’s
displeasure with Myer’s de
cision to invest PERS funds
in California.
• Ordered a review of the
scholarship program and
asked that recommenda
tions for changes be pre
pared for the February
Board meeting.
• Requested that the Gov
ernment Relations Com
mittee study possible legis
lation enabling contributors
to PERS to borrow from
that fund for home mort
gages.
• Removed the Assoc
iation vice president from
the list of officers authorized
to sign checks and make
withdrawals from Associa
tion checking and savings
accounts.
THE TIME! }
Start a payroll savings plan now
for half of your next raise.
You will not miss it, and it will be
working for you.
Plus, you will be eligible for all
of the benefits of credit union
membership.
Multnomah State
Employees
Credit Union
1220 S.W. Columbia Street, Portland, OR 97201
Telephone: 227-4132
Hours: Mon.- Fri., 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.