Stewards’ meeting
trains and honors
stewards’ efforts
Workshops on eight topics,
an address from an aide to the U.S.
Secretary of Labor, discussions on or
ganizing, and worker participation and
the Government Efficiency Act were
features of the Stewards’ Conference
on August 12,13, and 14 in Salem.
Additionally, 15 stewards
received outstanding stewards awards
at the conference.
POLITICAL PROGRAM-
Stewards prepared to mobilize Union
members for the political challenges
ahead of us, both the ballot measures
that threaten our jobs and services, and
assisting the candidates we are sup
porting for the Legislature, for Gover
nor, and in local government.
WORKER PARTICIPA
TION - OPEU President Dawn Mor
gan led a discussion on Worker Par
ticipation and the Government Effi
ciency Act (Senate Bill 1130). Mor
gan showed how the role of the Union
is critical to worker participation and
protecting workers’ rights and ben
efits, as she updated stewards on
what is happening in OPEU-repre-
sented workplaces.
WORKSHOPS - Work
shops included handling pre-dis-
missals, worksite organizing, dis
crimination, contract language,
workers’ compensation, workplace
teams, advance grievance handling,
and workplace violence.
STEWARDS HONORED
- Outstanding stewards honored at the
conference included:
• District 1 -EdEustice,DMV
Local ‘735J • District 2 - Don
Contreras, OSH Local 392; OPEU
President Dawn Morgan, VRD Local
582; Lee Orton, OSH Local 392;
Wendy Stone, DCBS Local 440; and
Jack Youngers, DMV Local 735. •
District 3 - Lexy Lieurance, UofO
Local 085; and Pat Loewinger, CSD
Local412. •District4- Phil Newton,
SDSD Local 411 ; Debbie Niemeyer,
WOW Local 461; and Carla White,
JCEA Local 497. »District5 -Mer
rily Brotherton, Umatilla County -
Sheriffs Local 597; and Marsha Tho
mas, WOW Local 461. • District 6 -
Fred Biesen, ODOT Local 730; Tim
Cummins, CSD Local 412; and
Donna Massey, CSD Local 412.
Vice President Gore, Kitzhaber, Hightower to speak
OPEU General Council Sept. 21-25
Vice President Al Gore is a
possible speaker to be added to ap
pearances by Democratic candidate
for Governor John Kitzhaber and
progressive political analyst Jim
Hightower to highlight OPEU/SEIU
Local 503’s General Council, Sep
tember 21-25, in Portland.
Also this year, the Union
changes the way the Union elects its
statewide officers.
VOTING PROCEDURES
- Beginning with the current elec
tion cycle, the statewide offices of
President, Vice President, and Sec
retary-Treasurer will be elected by a
direct vote of the membership rather
than by the delegates to the Council.
This was necessitated by our repre
sentation of private sector workers
— such as those at CODA,
Children’s Farm Home (See Page
6), and those that have become newly
privatized such as OPB. We now
come under federal labor relations stat
utes, such as the Landrum-Griffin law,
which require that union local officers
be elected by rank-and-file members
rather than a delegate assembly. The
Board of Directors took action at its
July 9 meeting to modify procedures
for electing statewide officers.
Because of this change:
• Nominations for OPEU
President, Vice President, and Sec-
retary-Treasurer have been extended
to noon on the first day of General
Council, September 22, 1994.
GORE
KITZHABER
• The election date for these
three officers will be held in early
December 1994, the specific dates
to be determined by the Council.
• The terms of the current
officers — none of whom is running
for reelection to their current office,
have been extended through Janu
ary 14, 1995, when the new officers
will be installed at a meeting of the
Board of Directors.
VICE PRESIDENT MAY
SPEAK - Gore is scheduled to be in
Oregon for a fundraiser for 1 st District
Congresswoman Elizabeth Furse. Be
cause the fundraiser is scheduled for
Septcmben24 and likely will be at the
Hilton Hotel, arrangements are in the
works for him to speak to General
Councildelegates,
FEATURED SPEAKER-
Hightower, who now produces a ra
dio show on progressive and labor-
briented issues, will give the key
note address to Council. In Oregon,
His weekend call-in show can be
HIGHTOWER
heard on KXL Radio in Portland.
KITZHABER FOR GOV
ERNOR - Kitzhaber, endorsed by
OPEU and the Oregon AFL-CIO for
Governor, will speak to delegates
during the three-day convention.
TRAINING
WORK
SHOPS - Thursday and Friday,
workshops are planned for Media
Training, the Anti-Worker Agenda,
OPEU History, Jobs with Justice,
Health and Safety,and Political Mo
tivation for Survival Training.
Council committees consider
the resolutions submitted by Union
members and then make their reports
to the Council for action by the del
egates. Fridaymoming, delegates who
are members of OPEU councils and
committees will meet.
• OPEU members unable to
attend Council will have an oppor
tunity to hear Hightower at a
Kitzhaber fundraiser Wednesday
evening before he speaks to OPEU.
More details to come.
Join OPEU team in Race for the Cure, Sept. 25
General Council del
egates and Portland-area OPEU
members wanting an opportunity
for exercise, helping a good
cause, and Union sisterhood will
want to join the OPEU/SEIU Lo
cal 503 team entering the Race
for the Cure on Sunday, Septem
ber 25, the last day of Council.
The Race for the Cure is an
annual event which raises money for
research, education, and prevention
of breast cancer.
This year’s event features a
one-mile coed walk beginning at
,8:30 a.m. and a 5K (about 3 miles)
women-only walk/run beginning at
9 a.m. Both events leave from
Portland’s Water Front Park, just a
few blocks from the General Coun
cil site at the Hilton Hotel.
OPEU’s Women’s Council
has entered OPEU as a team for this
event and encourages all General
Council delegates, their families, and
friends to participate.
To register, complete a regis
tration form, write “OPEU” in the space
for team name, and return it with your
check before the September 14 dead
line. Registration forms are available
at OPEU offices and in a delegate
mailing. An OPEU team photo will be
taken the day of the race.
The Susan G. Komen
Breast Cancer Foundation
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