VOLUME XXIII, No. 8
OCTOBER 1981
P U B L IC
A publication of the Oregon Public Employes Union, SEIU
Confidence Builds at Convention
Outgoing OPEU offlcers-June Blakley, secretary-treasurer; Pete Petry, vice president and Deb Bolton, president-listen to speaker during General Council.
Less than one year after a major
internal reorganization and affiliating
with the Service Employees Inter
national Union, OPEU has put
additional teeth into its move to
become one of the strongest unions
in the state.
At the 39th General Council,
delegates made five major com
mitments:
• Establish a grassroots political
organization and raise a larger
political action fund;
• Form a committee to develop a
strike fund and guidelines for a strike
policy;
• Further OPEU's alliance with the
state labor movement and join the
Oregon AFL-CIO;
• Accept the legislative challenge
to c o n tro l insurance costs by
implementing cost-containment pro
grams; and
• Increase the rebates received by
smaller locals.
Delegates underscored their desire
in these areas by electing Steve
Green to the presidency. Green, a
Salem right-of-way agent who has
been one of the prime movers behind
reorganizing along bargaining unit
lines, ran on a platform stressing the
five issues on which delegates made a
major commitment.
He defeated incum bent vice-
president D. H. •'Pete" Petry for the
top spot in one of the closest races in
the union’s history. Two-term in
cumbent president Deb Bolton could
not constitutionally seek re-election.
Following Green into office were
two other ODOT employes—John
Clapp, a Portland bridgetender, as
vice-president and Carol Laizure-
Election analysis, photos &
overview of resolutions on 6, 7
Jeliison, a journeyman silkscreen
sign printer, as secretary-treasurer.
Green said his first actions as
president will be "to help the rank and
file realize the strength of its
leadership, to become more involved
in the Oregon labor m ovem ent-
including joining the Oregon AFL-
CIO—and start building a grassroots
political organization.
“ The delegates made the com
mitments they had to make to provide
our members with the strong union
they were demanding,” Green said.
“ Now we need to ally ourselves with
the Oregon AFL-CIO and build the
type of grassroots political organiza
tion that labor needs. As the second
largest union in the state and
potentially the largest union in the
AFL-CIO, our contribution in this
area could be substantial.
“ In the past. OPEU's political
efforts have largely consisted of
campaign contributions and staff
lobbying at the Legislature,” Green
added. “ In the future, we will continue
to do those things, plus work from the
bottom of the political structure. That
means walking the streets, knocking
on doors and fin d in g p o litic a l
candidates that will help public
employes.”
To underscore their desire for
increased political clout, delegates
approved a voluntary $t-a-month
m inim um payroll checkoff. The
checkoff monies will be used to
bolster OPEU's political action fund.
Proceeds from the checkoff could
generate as much as $24,000 per
biennium, according to Dennis Koho,
an OPEU member who works for
Senate majority leader Del Isham.
The checkoff will be in addition to the
current 254 per month, per member,
that goes to the political action fund.
In the last biennium, this deduction
raised over $80,000 and was spent on
local and legislative candidates.
Stormy debate arose over how to
raise money for a strike fund. Most
delegates balked at a proposal to
create a fu n d by im m e d ia te ly
increasing dues by $1 per month.
After raising dues last year and
promising no additional increases
this year, delegates feared such move
would have a negative impact on
current elections to deauthorize fair
share.
Instead, delegates appointed a
special committee to study and make
recommendations on establishing a
strike fund and to recommend a strike
policy.
A major thrust of the annual
convention was aimed at membership
concern over skyrocketing insurance
costs.
After listening to insurance in
dustry, m edical and legislative
experts, delegates instructed OPEU
members on the Bargaining Unit
Benefits Board (BUBB) to institute
statewide “ wellness programs," to
look into incentives for staying
healthy and to issue reports on
possible legislative changes in
insurance and on ways to get greater
flexibility from negotiated insurance
dollars.
Green also played a large role in
continuing internal reorganization,
by pushing a resolution to increase
rebates to smaller locals.
The proposal, which was authored
by Green, will generate approxi
mately $3,000 to $4,000 for small
locals, according to OPEU business
manager Ralph Jull. The money will
come largely from the biggest
locals—ODOT and AFS.
Because ODOT had more dele
gates than any other local, the key to
passing this resolution was gaining
ODOT support. Some delegates in
the ODOT caucus said Green w as’
primarily responsible for convincing
their caucus to back the resolution.
"Under the old system, many of our
smaller locals did not have enough
money to effectively organize as
bargaining units,” Green explained..
"Now they will.”
Perhaps the best indicator of
OPEU's growing strength though,
was the sense of solidarity and
comradery among the union’s diver
gent interest groups.
“This was the first year in recent
memory that we entered this con
vention without internal discord or
the threat of external attack,” said
Thomas Gallagher, OPEU executive
director. “ The fact that we left
General Council with an even greater
sense of unity is testimony to the
growing maturity of this union.”