Image provided by: SEIU Local 503; Salem, OR
About The 503 voice. (Salem, OR) ????-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 2006)
DISTRICT 1 : Assistant District Director Con't. (4 positions available) What are your qualifications for this office? Name Deanna Gathman Portland Public Schools Kermit Meling ODOT Right now I am President of Local 810. I have sat on the bargaining team for the past two contracts. I am also a Shop Steward. Led the merger of Local 140 and 503. I served as fill in member during the ODOT Coalition Contract negotiations as a voice for ODOT members. I am a member of our Motor Carrier Enforcement Officers Labor Management Committee. This activity is what led me to get involved in the union as we all should be. I have worked with others on the reorganization of Local 730 as time allowed. Activist & Steward, ever since joining SEIU. Current Chair, DHS Clackamas SubLocal 215 Karen R.D. Miller DHS E Other union experience: Why are you seeking this office, your goals? Goals for your District? Biggest single issue/how to resolve? Other info: To make a difference. My biggest concern is health care for all. Bringing affordable health care for low wage workers. Health care is the biggest issue. We need to get the legislature to listen and help us resolve this. The reason I am seeking this office is to help bring unity within SEIU 503 and the ODOT Local 730. To try and build or rebuild the trust that has been lost during the past year. There are many challenges we will need to address to achieve this goal. Most of which is to regain the confidence from the members that they are being heard and their issues are being addressed. Get more members involved. Biggest single issue/how to resolve? j Membership. We have to get members involved in the operation. Make them understand that it is their UNION. If it is not working for them, then to come forward and be part of the solution. I was part of the problem in the past. For over ten years I let a hand full of very good individuals run the Union Local and I am grateful to them for the job they did. Sure I would go to the picket lines when needed and march. But I never got involved in, nor did I understand how the system works. That was my fault and now it is my time to repay the members that worked so hard. We will need to be prepared for tough negotiations if we want a decent wage increase. Yes, it is less than two years away and we have to start now organizing the districts for a hard battle. How one resolves the issues we are going to face is going to be the biggest issue. The only answer I can offer is we will have to unite and work together. I understand we need to strengthen the connection between our front-line field staff and Districts. I'd like to help do that. Politics - We must work to elect worker-friendly officials at all levels of government. Without that, every right we have is in jeopardy. I try to follow the teachings of Emma Goldman (Mother Jones): "Pray for the dead; fight like hell for the living." Biggest issue is the disconnect between locals and districts. I hope to be involved with the district restructure process to improve this and work to improve district communi cation in general. I come from a very active local and would like to help other locals become as active as us. 1 Katy Powers DMV • Experienced as an officer in my local, Vice President and Regional Chief Steward • Experienced handling grievances as a steward • Experienced representing members at labor management meetings • Completed Leadership Academy •Active in Regional Strategy Committee during DAS bargaining • Seeking to become more involved with SEIU 503 on the district level • Goal is to increase member activism in my district • Increase member activism in my district DISTRICT 2: Dhstrict Director (4 positions available) Name Paula Allen Revenue Joye Camacho DHS Farrell Hopkins DHS What are your qualifications for this office? Other union experience: Why are you seeking this office, your goals? Goals for your District? Biggest single issue/how to resolve? Other info: Biggest single issue/how to resolve? • Current District Director • Member for 16 years. • Chief Steward for Revenue Local 150 (statewide). • Chair of the statewide Steward's Committee. • Bargaining delegate • General Council delegate • Member Benefit Committee • Restructure Committee • Reclass appeals panel. • CNIC bargaining team • List committee • CLC delegate • Web worker • Salem Regional Strategy Committee • MALL Committee • Organizing-external & internal • phone banking • signature gathering • canvassing • worksite actions • arbitration screening •Jobs with Justice, Oregon AFL-CIO • lobbying • new employee orientation - group and one-on-one I am seeking a second term in order to continue to serve the members of my District, my Local, and the Union as a whole. Some of the goals I have for 503 are: see that resolutions passed by General Council are carried out timely, develop more accurate and accessible lists, help develop a governance structure that is more understandable and responsive to the member ship, bring new groups into our union, and elect a more labor friendly legislature. Some of the goals for my district are: increase participation by the various locals within the district, have more cross-local interaction and cooperative worksite actions on common/bargain- ing issues, educate members about the structure and governance of the union and improve communication. I have been a member for 16 years. I have been a shop steward for 10 years and currently sit on the Board as District 2 Director. Prior to serving as DD, I served as Assistant District Director. In 2002-2004 I was a member of the DAS Central Table Bargaining Team. My other experience includes DHS Local 200-18 treasurer and coming off the job on two stints to work as a Member Organizer with SEIU Local 503. • Active member of CAPE (Citizen's Action for Public Education) • SEIU Member Organizing Conference Participant 2003 • SEIU Member Political Action Conference 2003 • Leadership Training • Participation in phone banking, canvassing, lobbying, rallies & actions I would like to further the goals of the union, those set down by the 2004 General Council. I believe my experi ence and contributions to our union will be valuable in future campaigns. I under stand the importance of a member-run union and will do my best to insure the member participation remains a priority. My goal is to see SEIU Local 503 grow stronger, becoming the true political machine it must be to win for our members. Communication between the Districts and the Locals they serve is paramount. Campaigns are won at the Local level, in the worksites and in our communities. There must be an open avenue of communication between those sitting on the Board of Directors and the people we represent. Maintaining quality, affordable health care for our members is certainly one of the biggest issues we'll face in the future. I believe that by working to bring down the cost of health care across the board, we'll be able to secure that for our members. If we can elect people who share this concern, we may eventually be able to get health care off the bargaining table, freeing up more dollars for wage increases and other benefits. I believe in lead ing by example. I'm reliable, dependable and committed to making our union a force to be reckoned with. I feel my experience and training makes me uniquely qualified to represent the members of our district. I am an active steward and vice chair in my sub local (217). I also took a three-month absence from my job to serve as an organizer for our workers in the Salem area field offices during our last bargaining agreement campaign (early 2005). Have organized successful worksite activities to ensure fair treatment of our members. I am seeking this office as a means to further serve our workers. I feel it is essential to advance and protect the interests of our workers via the legislative process (case in point, the healthcare crisis). I want to actively ensure that our members get the treat ment and representation that they deserve. I think the biggest issue we will face is the health care crisis. If costs are allowed to continue to grow out of control, it will become almost impossible for our workers, and most Oregonians, to access affordable and decent healthcare without making unreasonable and unaccept able tradeoffs. There is strength in numbers, and by leveraging this, we can take action together and address this problem via the legislative process. I have been a permanent, full-time employee for the state for almost twelve years, serving staff and clients in Portland, Linn County, the coast and the Salem area. Since there are many big issues and they are, for the most part, interrelated, I am not sure we can single out any one issue but I'll try anyway. I would have to say the biggest issue is funding. Isn't that what almost everything boils to? Funding for public services including health care, tax equity, revenue sources and stability - these issues affect all our members, public sector and private, on and off the job. To resolve this issue, I will work diligently for a more equitable and stable tax system, closing corporate loop holes and eliminating the corporate kicker. To do this I will educate and lobby the legislature, the public and coworkers, work to elect labor friendly legislators and help get proactive ballot measures passed. I will encourage all members to do the same. SEIU Local 503, OPEU - STRONGER TOGETHER PAGE 3
