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.”