Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 20, 1973)
lir a F rances S c h o e n -'e ts p a p e r Pooa U n iv e r s it y o f c re y ó n L ib r a r y U R ens, < rv • ,n J3 United Minority Workers find success Nathan Prohy, Director of the United Minority Workers IUMW), told the Observer that his program has been so surcessful that employers are now seeking minority trainees and workers from UMW. Two training programs to he held the first of the year will train minorities for jobs in construction. Fifteen vet erans will lie trained in Port land for employment as heavy equipment operators. This is un eight week pro gram and participants will be eligible for veteran's cduen tion Is-nefits during training. In February, a month long training program for team sters will be held at ('amp Adair near Corvallis. Fifteen train ees will In- supplied room und board anil trans portalion. Trainees in this group will be qualified as journeymen truck drivers and are insured jobs with jour neyrnen scale when the train ing is ronrluded, Proby stressed that persons com pleting these training ses sions will be hired as jour neyrnen, not trainees. Posi tions are available in both programs. UMW has placed approxi mutely 80 minority persons on jobs in the lust six months. Prohy expects to place an additional 350 eni ployess in the next few months as construction con tractors get ready for the spring building perils). Proby said the government agencies have been coopera live and are enforcing af firm ative action require ments. Many of the con tractors, hoping to avoid confrontation with the gov ernment and possible loss of contracts, are making an effort to include minorities in their work forces. All of the construction trade unions ex cept the Operating Eitgi neers #701, against whirh UMW has filed a complaint of discrimination, are ro il,M-rating in getting minority workers hired by the con tractors into the unions. The real breakthrough came when the General Ser vire Administration filed a “show cause” order against Tisid Construction Company of Koseburg, charging that the company was not meet ing its affirmative action agreement on its federal building construction site in Eugene. Todd had signed an agreement with UMW, which became a part of his federal contract, guaranteeing to use specific percentages of mi norities on the job. Todd later signed a new agree ment calling for minorities in 8 to 10 percent of the total man hours on the job to April 15. 1974; 10 to 20 liercent from April 15 to September 16th; and 15 per cent until the project closes approximately January 18, 1975, The UMW n to he notified regularly of compli ance and has the right to monitor the site. Hoffman Construction Com pany recently notified UMW that its federal building con PORTLAND & Volume 4, No. 9 Portland, Oregon (H I O N I Y NIWSRARIR IN AN (O U A l O RRORTUNIIY (M F lO Y tR (H I W H O tt W IO t WORLD (H A I struction project in Portland currently has 70 percent minorities in laborers; 15 percent in carpenters; 50 percent in heavy equipment operators; and 13 percent in cement workers a total of 28 percent. Hoffman Con struction Company, Oregon's largest construction company, has been unusually resistant to hiring minorities. Proby says the reason for the recent willingness of contractors to cooperate is their knowledge that GSA, the U.S. D epartm ent of Housing and Urban Develop ment, and the Environmental Protection Agency will act against those who do not obey the law. UMW also has notice of job openings in the near future. There will be 75 positions with the Washing ton State Highway Commis sion in Vancouver; 15 train ing positions on highway construction south of Port land; as well as other posi tions for skilled and unskilled workers. UMW is acting as a hiring hall finding employment opportunities, referring mi norities; follow up after hiring, and counseling. UMW is investigating charges of discrimination in hiring and harassment of minority em ployees. Government agen cies have instructed contrac tors to contact UMW for referrals of minority workers. Proby emphasizes the need for all minority people who are in need of employment or OBSERVER R IA tlY CARIS AROUT R IO R lt Thursday. December 20. 1973 lOr per copy Brooks reappointed G overnor’s Message There has never been a lime exactly like this one in all of the tune that has passed. Nothing in the natural universe is the same now as it was a moment ago. Stars are growing and dying; the earth is in a place in 4k.- sky- it «>«•• will be i m u - a tree <«ils nt age and another rises from the ground. Man himself changes, and accelerates rhange. No greater power to change the world exists on earth than in the hands of man. We live in an era when man can press buttons to destroy every living thing on the planet or his apathy condones the slower killing process, that of destroying nature. But surely that was not God's design, for He so loved the world that He sent His Son to die for us. But is it possible that God's gift for a second chance for humanity will In- wasted? Isn’t it possible that in our swing toward change that we will stumble short of the Promised I .and? God in his wisdom urged constancy u | m » h us . He asked that we not lose an awareness of this world and all those around us. He asked thal we remain always of good will, that we respect always Christ's message of peace. The Christmas story is one of constancy enduring faith, eternal hope, and everlasting peace. Ia*t man in his wisdom leave it unchanged. Dorothy McCammark and James O. Brooks were ap pointed to the Housing Authority of Portland's Board of Commissioners Mayor Neil Goldschmidt has announced. Ms. McUammack, 37. is a resident of North Portland and has been active in Com munity and youth affairs. She is a member of the North Portland Citizen Com mittee; a volunteer coord ma tor for the University Sum mer Park Program 11973); a volunteer case aide for Juve nile Court (1971 73); and a member of the Housing Authority's Personnel and Resident Committee 11972 731 and their committee on Model Ia-ase and Grievance Procedure 11972 731. M< McCamruack was ,n- live in Summer "72 and she hel|M-d form an organizatior PMSC challenged Betty Overton and Al Lucas s)>okc for the Portland Metropolitan Steering Com nittee concerning charges igainst the PMSC Child De velopment Center made by members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). Mrs. Overton said she par tirularly resented the inter Builders discuss miaority share R ep resen tativ es of the Jelro Company of Salt laike City and the United Sewage Agency met with Al Hicks of the Enviornmental Protec tion Agency and repreaenta tives of the Albina Contrae tors' Association, the United Minority Workers, the United Minority Workers' Aaaoria tion of Tacoma, and the Central Contractors' Aaaoria tion of Seattle to discuss Jelco's minority obligations on its upcoming construction project in Oregon. Jelro will receive the contract from Unified Sewage Agency to construct a sewage treat ment plant with federal funds. The 22 million dollar job will lake approximately 20 months to complete. Jelro hail planned to do approxi mately 90 percent of the work, excluding electrical, and to subcontract the elec trical work plus 10 percent of the construction. The repre a TIME for saving TIME forgiving For a free gift to give or keep, save now at lien) Franklin Deposit $1 .(XX) to $5,(XM) and loose your gift from our collection of famous Timex and Swiss watches. Offer good while y last, for new deposits only, one per customer 5!4% pei annum on passbook savings, compounded constantly day In to day out. Franklin R o b an H H^yon, Pro» * 22 O fftc o t * Phono 248 1234 H o m e O ffic e F ra n k lin B ldg P o rtlan d . O regon 97204 known as Parent Survival, a group which works to inform parents amt their youngsters about available resources. James (). Brooks, 19, Direc tor of Economic Develop ment and Employment for the Urban League of Port land, is a graduate of the University of Portland with a B.S. Degree in Zoology 11953) and a B.A. Degree in Soci ology 119661. He has his certifieate in Urban Sociology from (ieorge Williams Col lege (Illinois), and earned his Masters Degree in Sociology from the University of Port land in 1971. Brooks is a member of the Portland Chaper of NAACP, the Portland Irvington Com munity Association, and the Board of Directors ol the Portland Metropolitan Steer ing Committee. sentatives of Jelco were in formed by Hicks of their responsibility to meet mi lority workman goals and to itilize minority business. It might be necessary for Jeleo to subcontract a portion of its 90 percent to minority contractors. It is also the responsibility of Jelco to see that each of its sub contrac tors designate a portion of each job to minority ron tractors. Ernie Altheimer of the C entral Area C ontractors told Jelco rep resen tativ es that they will need to aban don their usual way of al loting subcontracts to meet the requirem ents of the Minority Business Program. This might include negotia tion of contracts, technical assistance and help with bonding. Nate Proby, Director of UMW, said his organization will expect that one out of five man hours on every job classification will go to mi ndFities. The Jelco EEO officer. Duane Nealy, said his company will not make a number commitment at this time, hut "will sure try". Al llieks said his agency looks on this negotiation meeting as a milestone. Jelco and the minority organiza tions will meet again to work out the specifics and EPA will monitor the process. EPA is responsible for en forcemenl of the equal op portunity requirements of the project and can withhold funds at any time these are not met. jection of racism into the iasue and the personal at tacks on Cleveland Gilcrease, Executive Director of PMSC, and Gretchen Boynton, direc tor of the center. She said the attack on Gilcrease is typical of the usual racist attack on Black men in posi tions of leadership and that she considers the whole af fair an attempt to "get Gil crease". The IWW, which is at tempting to unionize the em ployees of the child care renter, has made a number of allegations against Mrs. Boynton. The issue appar ently reached a head with the term ination of Jean DeMasters. Mrs. DeMasters was terminated, and went through grievance proce dures, whirh determined she had been improperly termi nated. She was later termi nated again by PMSC. IWW spokesmen claim Mrs. De- Masters, who is white, was fired because she was agi tating for Black control of the center. Mrs. Boynton stated that she has not answered com plaints publically because she felt most of the complaints were untrue and that her public protest would add the publicity her detractors de sire. She stated that she has discussed staff complaints with the staff and that the complaints seem to narrow down to the desire on the part of a few to make the decisions that are her re sponsibility. She meets reg ularly with staff members and asks their advice and opinion, but the ultimate decisions are her responsi bility as director. On some of the specific complaints that have been published, she had the fol lowing comments: She was charged with neglecting care of the bus tires and causing an accident. Mrs. Boynton said the tires were checked and found to be in good condition and that the wreck occured when the bus driver went through a red light. T he IWW n e w s le tte r (Please turn to pg. 2. col. 3) training to contact UMW im mediately. There are also non construction positions open in secretarial fields, janitorial, food service, ac counting, etc. UMW has a working re lationship with the Chicano Indian Study Center of Ore gon through which minority w orkers can be served throughout the state. Proby is currently establishing branches of UMW through out Eastern Oregon so that minority employees can be quickly dispatched to jobs anywhere in the state and so minority workers will have a contact point to air griev ances. UMW is scheduling full- day workshops with per sonnei of the Region X federal agencies to teach its people how to investigate and rep o rt discrim inatory practices. Any interested person is invited to attend these workshops. Proby emphasized the need for young Blacks to get into the construction trades at the age of 18 or 19. UMW hopes to be able to provide training for a few young people in each of the 15 construction crafts. These training programs bypass the apprenticeship programs whirh have discrim inated against minorities - and put young people into the work force as journeymen within a reasonable period of time. No, it's not Harold Johnson. It's the real Santa Claus who came down from the North Pole to hear the secret desires of Portland children in expectation of his return on Christmas Eve. Ramps delayed Mrs. Florence Wroten displays award presented by Cos mopolitan Airtel for "providing efficient and personal ser vice". Employee earns award by Gloria Geao W roten Mrs. Florence Wroten, an employee of the Cosmopoli tan Airtel located at 6221 N.E. 82nd Avenue, became the recipient of an award for her assistance in what Airtel Chief Art Steimle termed “providing efficient and per sonal service” to A irtel patrons. An employee of the Cos mopolitan industries since the 1968 Airtel opening, Mrs. Wroten was presented the gold plaque award during the annual Employees’ Christmas party held at the Airtel on December 16th. “We would like to take this opportunity to thank you as well as commend you for your past five years of service," re marked Employee Manager Robert Powers as he pre sented Mrs. Wroten with the iward. Tearful, the mother of five stood before a crowd of two hundred and fifty employees and staff members and said, "this is one of the greatest things that has ever hap pened to me. It has truly been wonderful working with you and the other employees and staff members of the fabulous Airtel. Thank you, thank you so very much." In addition to her award. Mrs. Wroten will also be come the guest of the Cos mopolitan Motel of her choice anyw here in the United States. Mrs. Wroten dis closed that she and her hus band Edward will take ad vantage of the Cosmopolitan hospitality during their fu ture stay in Sacramento, California. The Portland City Council voted to postpone the open ing of the Fremont Bridge ramps into Albina until a more comprehensive evalua tion of their effect on the community is made. The Council responded to the re port of an Ad Hoc Com m ittee appointed by the Council, which recommended strict regulations of traffic if the ramps are opened. The Boise Improvement Committee and other neigh borhood groups, including the Model Cities Citizens’ Planning Board, have op posed opening the ramps. A public hearing will be held early in January. Paula Conley receives $5.00 check as first-prize winner in the Observer's coloring contest. Paula is a third grader at Irvington Elementary School. Madison High School's “Gambling Gangsters" rally team. Team brings "belonging” Mrs. Hazel G. Hays begins work as Director of the Albina Multi Service Center amid bushels of flowers sent by well wishers. by Rosemary Allen Have you ever been to a basketball game and watched the dancing girls at half-time and it suddenly dawned on you in your boredom that if the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 did not exist, those girls would be in complete confusion? If so, you're in for a com plete change if you get the opportunity to see Madison High School’s new dance team. They call themselves the “Gambling Gangsters", The Gambling Gangsters are com prised of approximately 20 young Madison High School students, male and female, from all four grades. Their advisor, Lena Bimberry, is a young, 23 year old English teacher at Madison High. Ms. Bimberry saw in the forming of the dance team a chance for the students to participate in a "positive, non-verbal experience." "The group is like a family, they’re very close." explained Ms. Bimberry. The "family jewel" is Luerine Wilson, a senior at Madison and leader of the dance team. “We call Luerine the family jewel be cause everthing evolves around her,” said Ms. Bim berry. What evolves around Luerine Wilson on the gym floor at half time is a thrill to see. The Gambling Gang sters are dressed in red and white turtleneck tops, blue jeans cuffed to the knee, white anklets with red long socks, red and white .shoes and gangster hats. What they do on the floor is far beyond turning your head and moving your arms to a stiff one, two, three, four count. Their dance routine is a reflection of the environ ment they live in, the things they see, and the way they feel. Some oi the dances in their routine are derived from "street dances", like the Camelot, S eattle Bump, Tunkie and the Watergate. However the style of dancing comes from Luerine Wilson, who describes her technique as "just being wild with it." What makes the Gambling Gangsters different from the average dance team is the feeling they put into the dance. They practice many hours each week before and after school and on week ends, but there is always a spark of freshness and energy in their routine. One of the reasons why the Gambling Gangsters put so much into their dance team is because they get so much out. According to one member of the dance team, "The drill team makes me feel like I belong at Madison High School. It makes me feel like going to school.''
