Image provided by: SEIU Local 503; Salem, OR
About The Oregon public employe. (Salem, Oregon) 1981-???? | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 1981)
VOLUME XXXIII, No. 9 NOVEMBER 1981 H E OREGON P U B L IC A publication of the Oregon Public Employes Union, SEIU Petty Elected to Presidency Green’s Move to to Management Not Uncommon Board Names First President Outside Salem Steve Green’s resignation, only two months after taking office as OPEU president, came as a shock to most members and left many others asking why the union’s top official would move into an excluded position after winning the presidency. D. H. “ Pete” Petry, OPEU's vice- president until last September, has been elected president by the union’s board of directors. The special election was prompted by Steve Green's sudden resignation due to a promotion to management. Petry, a welfare investigator from Baker, narrowly lost to Green at this year’s General Council. It was this fact that apparently won him a majority of the board's support and made him OPEU’s first president outside Salem. "Most the delegates (to General Council) wanted Petry as much as they wanted Green,” one board member said after Petry's election. “ It was this feeling—that the member ship wanted Petry—that swayed a majority of the board." Petry faced opposition from three other candidates—Vice President John Clapp, Secretary-Treasurer Carol Laizure-Jellison and District 3 Director Beckie Bragg. Candidates campaigned for nearly a month trying to woo a majority of the board. No candidate succeeded on the first ballot, eventhough Bragg dropped out of the running two days before the vote. On the second though, Petry defeated Laizure- Jellison in what was described as a smooth, but close vote. In both his campaign against Green and in the special election, Petry said that a vote for him would be a vote to “ end the d ivision between the (Willamette) Valley and the rest of the state.” According to one board member, “This vote shows that the Valley does not run the show.” Petry ran on a platform promising to bring OPEU into a stronger bargaining position with the State. He said this will be accomplished by continuing to reorganize the union according to bargaining-unit needs and to allocate more union resources to political campaigning and lobby ing. Affiliating with the Service Em ployees International Union, organiz ing local units according to bargain ing needs and strengths and new moves to increase its political clout have made OPEU a stronger bargain ing organization. Included in its political drive has been an active campaign to increase contributions to its political action fund and establishing political action com m ittees in Eugene, Salem and Portland. Petry said more resources need to be allocated in all of these areas. Petry also promised to devote more resources to local governments and to press for broader recognition of comparable worth. Green, who accepted a position as a right-of-way agent supervisor, is only the second OPEU president not to fulfill his term due to a promotion to management. However, he is the fifth of the past six OPEU presidents who was either offered a supervisory position during their term or shortly following their term. D. H. “ Pete” Petry directs board meeting as new OPEU President. Your Tax Dollars Lower Your Tax and Direct Their Gse EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first In a series of articles aimed at helping OPEU employes gain the largest possible benefit from the tax laws that are applicable to them. Perhaps the most desirable posi tion to attain when paying taxes is to lower your tax obligation while directing your tax dollars to your own benefit. OPEU members can create this desirable tax situation for themselves by contributing to OPEU’s political action fund. As the accompanying chart shows, any contributions made to political action funds are fully refunded by the Oregon Department of Revenue and the Internal Revenue Service. In effect, contributions to political action funds are loans to those organizations that are paid back by the government. The government does this by decreasing your tax bill by the amount you contribute to each political action fund. This reduction is called a tax credit Tax credits for these types of contributions are limited to $50 for individuals filing single returns and $100 for married couples filing joint returns. Contributions made after Dec. 31, 1981 will not be credited against 1981 tax bills. Where OPEU members have an .advantage over the majority of the taxpaying public is being able to contribute to their own political action fund. Besides realizing the tax credit, OPEU members gain the advantage of supporting politicians who work for legislation that is in the interest of public employes. “As we have seen in the past, the amount of political clout OPEU has can have a d irect bearing on members' pocketbooks,” said Chuck M endenhall, OPEU government relations director. "A large political action fund is one of the key elements in building political clout.” Contributions to OPEU's political action fund should be mailed to: CAPE P.O. Box 12159 Salem, OR 97309 Maximum Tax Credit from Political Donations Single Return Joint Return 50 100 Federal Tax Credit 25 50 State Tax Credit 25 50 TOTAL TAX CREDIT 50 100 CONTRIBUTION “ If you show signs of leadership, others catch on," said Jon Lucke, a past-president of OPEU. “ It (union leadership) shows you are following a line of progression; it is a logical step in career advancement and manage ment recognizes this.” “There are a lot of subtle pressures put on you to take promotions when they are available," said Jim Dyer, another past-president. “ If you pass- up a promotion when it is offered, especially if you pass-up a promotion more than once, it may be a long time before the opportunity arises again.” When Green announced that he had been promoted, many members immediately asked if State manage ment was trying to weaken OPEU by moving its new president out of the bargaining unit. Green thinks not. “ I was asked to apply for the position in Nov. 1980,” he said. “ At that time I had not indicated I would be running for president.” In his new position, Green will be running the regional right-of-way office in Portland. Green said he applied for the position in Nov. 1980 because, “ I was at the top salary step in the top rung in my career path (w ith ou t advancing to manage ment).** He said that due to the State job freeze, he had no indication of when the position would be filled or what his chances were of gaining it until he was actually informed of his promotion. “You can only turn down career promotions for so long,” said Marie Grant, who, like Green, had to resign from office due to a promotion. “ I had turned down previous promotions to stay involved in the union, but I was afraid that if I turned down this one it might have been a long time before I received another offer.” “ You always feel guilty for resign ing,” Grant added. “ But you have your career and your family to consider too.”
