The Oregon public employe., September 01, 2001, Page 3, Image 3

Leadership Column
----------- —------------ by Kathie Best
SEIU Local 503, OPEU President
An Impressive Past, An Exciting Future
Dear Fellow Members,
As most of you know, Alice Dale, our
Executive Director for the past 16 years resigned
her position at Local 503. Following a farewell
dinner in her honor, Alice assumed her duties as !
the new Executive Director for Local 49 in Port­
land on November 1,2001. Oyer the years, Alice
helped build OPEU into a strong and formidable
voice for workers and was instrumental in Local
503 becoming the largest AFL-CIO affiliated
Union in Oregon, with over 26,000 members.
Although Alice will be missed tremendously, her
leadership at Local 49, a unit of approximately
5,000 healthcare and janitorial workers, will
benefit all of us by strengthening their contracts
and organizing new workers in the private sector.
We look forward to their success and working
together to build the labor movement. A national
searches underway to find a new Executive
Director. Terry Cavanagh, our Assistant Executive
Director, has graciously agreed to act
as Interim Director until that process
has been concluded, hopefully
sometime in January 2002.
Congratulations to all our
members who recently ratified
collective bargaining agreements.
Negotiations have been particularly
difficult this time around due to the
huge increases in health insurance
costs and we can all breathe a collec­
tive sigh of relief that we were able to reach a
number of settlements without the need to strike. .
Special thanks to those who negotiated and sup­
ported these contract settlements.
As we were building toward a strike in two
of our uriits, Higher Ed and Marion County, we
learned of the horrific events of September 11
Our ability to process and deal with this tragedy,
the terrorists’ attack on Ainerica,has certainly been
a test tp our faith and solidarity as a nation and as a
union. At Local 503, it became a factor in deci­
sions made by both bargaining teams on whether or
not to proceed with a strike if warranted by con- - .
tract negotiations. I salute both units for their *
courage and dedication to the collective bargaining
process and their foresight to stay focused on the
critical task at hand, a fair and equitable contract
for our members.
The attacks of the World Trade Center in
New York and the Pentagon in Washington, DC,’ as
well as threats of chemical and biological warfare
have certainly overshadowed much of our work. We
mourn for the victims of these attacks and all those
affected, and they remain in our thoughts and
prayers; The feeling of uncertainty that these
abhorrent acts have left us with is unsettling.
Although there seems little we can do from such a
great distance away, union brothers and sisters across
the country are heeding the call for help and finding
ways to aid the victims and their families. Thou­
sands of emergency services and medial workers are
conducting rescue and aid missions in New York and
suburban Washington, DC. Union volunteers are
contributing their skills, food, blood and funds to the ;
effort. On the home front, the SEIU Local 503,
OPEU Board of Directors approved a $10,000
"The possibility of
program cuts, whether they’re
agency specific or across the
board, will be devastating for
many Oregonians."
99
contribution to the relief fund. SEIU International
has collectively contributed over a million dollars.
We must move forward, being mindful of those
we’ve lost. We’ll continue to fight.the good fight.
We must refuse to accept the tyranny and inhumanity
levied on us by these terrorists. If we stand together
and become stronger from it, we will prevail in the
end. Stand with me, my brothers and sisters, in
strength and unity!
Some important issues facing our members
and identified during the New Strength and Unity
.campaign are the healthcare Crisis, funding quality
public services and our public image. Due to the
addition of funds through the implementation of
NSUP, we have formed three new member commit­
tees toaddress these important topics: Healthcare,
Quality Public Services and Communications.
Improving our public .image is part of the charge
assigned to the Communications Committee.
Committee members will work in conjunction with
staff to analyze, identify and determine strategies to
deal with these issues. More information about the
NSUP committees can be found on our
www.seiu503.org website.
I am excited about the upcoming SEIU 503
gubernatorial candidate videoconference scheduled
for December 2,2001. The person elected as
governor of this state will play a pivotal role in the
lives and livelihoods of our members. It is impera­
tive that we are actively engaged in selecting, and
then supporting the right candidate. The
videoconference will give many of our members
across the state the opportunity to participate in the
candidate interviews, as well as have input into the
decision-making process of tins Union?
The anticipation of a Special Legislative
Session in January is certainly one of our primary
concerns. The possibility of program cuts, whether
they’re agency specific or across the board, will be
devastating for many Oregonians. Rather than
making cuts,we need to promote increasing rev­
enue, whether it’s by using some of the tobacco
settlement fiinds, a tax surcharge, new excise taxes,
reclaiming the “kicker” or delaying the implementa­
tion of Measure 88. We are in the process of
formulating a number of strategies for consider­
ation. Budget solutions shouldn’t be done through
cuts to necessary and important programs. We must
call qur legislators and urge them to leave revenue
solutions off the table in a Special Session.
We have a great deal to accomplish in the
New Year. There are the time honored political
fights, the governor and legislative races, healthcare
reform, finding ways to fund quality public ser­
vices, as well as the transition of bringing thousands
of pew members into our Union through the
homecare election and bargaining their first con­
tract. Now more than ever, we need to join our
collective, voices and votes to ensure our future is
full of hope and promise.
In Strength and Unity,
THE OREGON PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PAGE 3