The Oregon public employe., September 01, 2002, Page 5, Image 5

Workers take back ballot
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4
r | 'h e bottom line: The Initiative Integ-
A rity Act, Measure 26, removes the in­
centive for forgers to steal your signature.
Sim ply p ut, M easure 26 w ill help
clean up the p etitio n p ro cess. T h a t's
why the League o f W om en Voters and
other m em bers o f a broad -based coalitio n have joined
W e w o n ’t so o n f o r g e t th e fiv e s p e c ia l
sessio ns o f 2 0 0 2 . T h e on ly th in g w o rs e
th an th e L e g is la tu re ’s la c k o f a c tio n , w a s
th e ac tio n it to o k and th re a te n e d to ta k e :
b u d g e t c u ts , s m a ll re v e n u e in c r e a s e s
re fe rre d to th e p e o p le and th e th re a t o f
abolishin g PERS. S EIU Lo cal 5 0 3 , OPEU
fo u g h t b a c k w ith a n e w s c o n fe re n c e (tw o
p h o to s , le f t) w h e re H ila r io A re lla n o (a t
p o d iu m ), G a r y W e s to b y , K a r l B ie n an d
L e s lie F r a n e o u t lin e d t h e im p a c t oh
O r e g o n ia n s o f p o s s ib le c u t s to th e
prog ram s w e w o rk Jin.
la b o r in re tu rn in g O re g o n 's in itia tiv e p ro cess to the
hands of w orking O regonians.
Passing our initiative to raise
the minimum wage, Measure 25
Today, full-tim e w orkers making minim um wage earn just
$13,500 a year.
♦
♦
♦
♦
M inim um wage workers are:
Women (60%)
20 or older (73%)
Single parents (25%)
Caring for our elders as health aides
♦ Watching over children in daycare, and
♦ Picking our food from the fields and serving it to us in restaurants.
Many work 40 hours a week, yet still live below the poverty
level. They haven't had a raise in almost four years. No one who
works fulltime should have to struggle to feed their family.
G U ILTY!!
Sizemore initiative petition
signatures forged, jury finds
B
ill S iz e m o re ^ O regon
Taxpayers United was
found guilty Septem ber
27 of forgery and racketeering
related to signature gathering
and money laundering used to
qualify anti-w orker m easures
for the ballot in 1998 and 2000. Sizemore as he looked during
A M u ltn om ah C o u n ty one o f his m any television
appearances over the years.
jury awarded the plaintiffs, two
teacher unions, a total of $865,000 in damages. The judge in the
case must now decide whether to impose punitive damages of up
to triple this amount.
Senate Democratic leader Kate
B ro w n (to p ) ta k e s a fe w
m o m en ts to g r e e t th e jo in t
DASZOUS bargaining conference
delegates. When Dem ocratic
National Com m ittee chair Terry
M c A u liffe s p e a k s a t P C U N
recen tly, introduced by th e ir
u n io n p r e s id e n t , R a m o n
R am irez (m iddle), SEIU Local
5 0 3 , O P E U m e m b e r M a r ta
M a b en (le ft) w h o w o rk s fo r
DHS in S alem is th ere.
The efforts of several unions, including SE IU Local 503,
OPEU, in funding and participating in the activities of the Voter
Education Project helped bring to light the abuses of the initiative
process by Sizemore's campaign operatives.
Familiar names among Sizemore contributors
ourt exhibits in Bill Sizemore's trial have revealed the identity of some of
the biggest contributors to his 1996 initiative cam paigns, including
an attack on public em ployee retirem ent benefits (M easure 45) and a
failed public sector "right-to-w ork-for-iess" initiative.
Those contributors included:
Oregon Restaurant Association ($20,000)
Oregon Farm Bureau Federation ($1,000)
Oregon Grocery Industry Association ($5,000)
Oregon Petroleum Marketers Association ($5,000)
Mark Hemstreet Property Development and Mark Hemstreet Properties
($35,000)
The Oregon Restaurant Association has continually asserted that it does not
contribute to Sizemore's operation. The facts say otherwise.
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THE OREGON PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PAGE 5