Page X
Portland Observer
Thursday. March ».
♦ r*.
Through the eyes of Mr. W.
We see the world
through Black eyes
opportunity enforcement.
These changes, along with strengthening EEOC
should make more equitable enforcement of equal
opportunity laws possible.
The people score again
Fair Share) Fair Shore! Fair Share! Everywhere you
go there'» Fair Shore!
This "grassroots" organisation has proved once
ogom that a united community effort con bring
Uuu
A m Ú m 'Jocnl
results.
Another success has been added to Fair Snare s
accomplishments. Along with new city attention to
abandoned buildings and demolition of the danger
ous playground at Unthank Pork, there is now a new
troffic light at Union ond Failing. This light appeared
less than two weeks after Fo.r Share confronted the
proper city officials although the previous word was
that it would take two months or more
The older
civil rights organisations ond the
politicians espousing "grass roots campaigns and
"citizen envolvement" could learn a valuable lesson
Legislators tars to people power
from the Oregon Journal
from this group.
Changes aid enforcement
President Carter has submitted a Civil Rights
Enforcement Pion to Congress that should bring new
life to the civil rights effort.
Although the laws have been on the books for
many years, equal opportunity has been impeded by
lack of enforcement on the ogency level.
Civil Rights enforcement is now spread out unOer
the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission,
the Department of Labor, the Deportment of Justice,
the Civil Service Commission and the Equal Employ
ment Coordinating Council Eleven additional ogen-
cies have responsibilities for controct compliance
enforcement.
This results in inconsistent standards, duplication,
conflict ond overlapping among agencies, and lock
of accountability. On top of that, many of those
persons responsible ore hold-overs from the Nixon
Administration, less than enthused over minority
rights, but protected by the civil service system.
Carter's plan will abolish the Equal Employment
Opportunities Coordinating Council and place its
duties in the EEOC; transfer the authority to enforce
the Equal Pay Act and the Discrimination in
Employment Act from Labor to EEOC; transfer equal
employment responsibility for Federal employees
from the Civil Service Commission to EEOC; end the
responsibility of eleven agencies charged with
controct compliance and give this authority to the
Deportment of Labor. The Department of Justice
would retain its responsibilities in equal employment
"Dianks
hi Harold C. W ilbams
In Oregon, due to the initiative ond referendum,
the electorate at laroe is the ultimate legislature
Through the route of petition and election, the
process gives the people the chance to reject
anything the elected Legislature does, or to pass laws
that the elected Legislature declines to.
It is interesting to note, however, that members
elected to the Legislature are turning more and more
to the people's legislative machinery.
Reps Wally Priestley, D-Portland, ond Curt WoHer,
D-Silverton, successfully referred a gasoline tax
measure that the voters rejected.
A trio of representatives, Cecil Johnson, R-Gronts
Pass, Jock Sumner. D-Heppner, and Bernard Byers
D-Lebanon, are going to try to get enough signatures
to put a death penalty measure on the ballot after
they were unable to persuode their colleogues of the
merits of their plan.
A jxiir of minority senators, Robert Smith, R-Bums,
and L.B. Day, R-Salem, have an ambitious program to
take to the voters. They hope to gather more than
600,000 signatures on at least three seporate
constitutional amendments.
One would reduce legislator's salaries to $500 a
month and allow that to increase thereafter only in
proportion to the cost of living. Another would limit
the highway fund just to construction and m ainten
ance of roods, eliminating the financing of such
things as parks and state police from gasoline taxes
The third would require that any surplus funds
collected by the state be given to schools in
dollar-For-dollar property tax relief.
There may be other similar efforts and there surely
is nothing wrong with them. Legislators are citizens,
too, and have the some opportunities as all other
citizens to use the people's legislative tools.
But it is interesting to note that lawmakers, unable
to get their favorite legislation through the Legisles
ture, are fuming increasingly to the people's
legislative powers. This comes at a time when the
people demonstrated a bit more confidence in their
Legislature by voting to let the lawmakers coll
»hemselves into session whenever they desire.
I
, Ao't tfafc.
gates were asked to vote on it.
“They f e l l they were voting on a quota
system.
They're really not against
affirmative action; affirm ative action is
making equal opportunity in access to
employment for everyone."
The Republicans must have felt ember
rassed Iwcause on Sunday they watered
down their resolution - stating in essence
that they are for equal opportunity in
It should be clear to Blacks and
other minorities by the actions of the
Republican Party at the Dorchester
Conference, that they are not and will not
be sensitive to the needs of minorities
and disadvantaged people There's a lot
of fanfare by the Republican Party that it
by Bayard
For the past six months. American
business groups and their erstwhile allies
in the resurgent conservative movement
have been beating the drums on labor law
reform. "Big Labor." they tell us, is using
the Labor Law Reform Act of 1878 as a
battering ram against the gates of cor
porate America: if the gates swing open,
they warn, hordes of power hungry labor
bureaucrats will ravage the land, and
bankrupt thousands of hapless business
men.
Such a scenario ia, at course, highly
exaggerated, yet the opponents of the
Williams Javits bill have been extraordi
narily successful in causing widespread
confusion about the intent of the legisla
tion. For one thing, frightened business
leaders have labeled the reform package
a "give-a way to the Labor Bosses ~ If the
bill passes, according to President Rich
ard Lesber of the Chamber of Commerce,
the nation's workers and consumer s "will
be burdened with an unfair, unbalanced
labor law designed to increase member
ship and economic and political clout of
the big labor unions."
But the bill is not about "Union
Power." I t ia. instead, a measure design
ed to revitalise and reinforce America's
labor relations system, a system whose
success or failure has an enormous impact
on the economic well-being of low and
middle-income Americans.
Black working people - despite what
some conservatives and Black business
men have argued - have an especially
large stake in the outcome of this debate,
it is Blacks who are disproportionately
represented In those industries and geo
graphic regions which have most stead
lastly resisted trade union organizing
drives - the textile, clothing and service
J jfti/M
industries of the Deep South. Workers
employed in those labor intensive indus
tries receive meager wages 1 almost sub
sistence wages' and face the constant
threat of temporary lay o ff or outright
dismissal
They exist on the economic
fringes of society with little or no hope for
advancement.
union employees, interrogating workers
about their union sympathies, or bargain
ing in "bad faith." Similarly, anti union
companies can slowly dissipate pro union
sentiment by continually delaying repre
aentation elections through clever - but
costly legal maneuvers.
Some critics of the proposed reforms,
such as M r. Lesher oil the Chamber of
Trade unions do. however, make a
difference. Recent studies have demon
strated that Blacks with trade union
cards fare substantially better than their
brothers and sisters working in non union
enterprises.
According to the most
recent data. Black union workers - both
men and women - earned a median
weekly income of $16» in 1874. Non-union
Blacks, on the other hand, earned only
$124 per week: a difference of over 35
percent.
Another study showed that
Black union members are less likely than
non union Blacks to suffer from tempo
rary layoffs
Commerce, complain that the hill "would
transform the National la b o r Relations
Act from a remedial statute to a punitive
law. designed to punish employers..." To
a certain extent. M r Lesher is correct
But how else can one enforce a law which
many employers find so tempting to
violate?
The penalties included in the Williams
Javits bill are hardly draconian. Employ
ers who repeatedly break the law and
deny workers their most basic rights will
be barred from receiving federal con
tracts.
Who could possibly complain
about that?
And employers who bargain in "bad
faith" (as legally determined by the
National Labor Relations Board* will be
required to grant their employees retro
active *a g e increases comparable to
those won by other workers. Without
such sanctions - and these are mild
indeed - workers have no protection
whatsoever against law breaking employ
ers
Business groups and Congressional
conservative on both sides of the aisle
have derisively called the reform package
“just another piece of self interest legi
slation." But when the Senate votes on
the W illiams Javits bill, it will be more
than 1 yes or no to what conservatives
call “the l-abor Bosses " I t will be s yes or
no to the thousands of workers, especially
Black and low-wage workers, who want a
lair chance to join the economic main
stream of America.
It would be naive and misleading, of
course, to argue that trade union mem
hership ;«er ae will magically advance the
economic position of Southern Blacks and
other low wage workers.
But strong
trade unions do. nevertheless, serve as a
solid foundation for future economic
gains
And without them, workers
cannot even bejtin to confront the other
social and economic factors which perpe
tuate poverty.
W hy haven’t low wage workers al
ready organized themselves into trade
unions? The answer is relatively simple:
employers, because of their overwhelm
mg political and economic power, have
thwarted virtually every organizing
drive, frequently by using illegal and
unethical tactics.
Linder the present law. there are few
penalties which effectively deter unscru
pulous employers from dismissing pro
to ikl
Doors open
To the Editor:
To the Editor:
Your March 2nd headline. "Cross
Burns in Portland. Oregon." is a vivid
reminder that our American dream of
"equality for all" is unfortunately not
shared by all. A t a time when Nazis
inarch in Skokie. Illinois and a cross
burns in Portland. Oregon, the vast
majority of us who believe in justice and
despise intolerance should do io actively.
We should heed George Washington's
timeless advice “to give to bigotry no
sanction "
I think your column “From Behind The
W all" is an extremely valuable one.
valuable not only to prisoners who seek
recognition as individuals instead of
numbers, but also to the community
members that are interested in retiabili
tation Instead of revenge. I don't always
agree with everything that Larry Baker
writes, but then differences of opinion
make some people Ford owners and
others Chevy owners. I do think Larry
helped open an important avenue for
several hundred prisoners.
Well done.
Sincerely.
Robert F. Tropp
Assistant Director
Jewish Federation of Portland. Oregon
Refreshing
Sincerely.
Donald Danford
032323
„ h ,,. m
To the Editor:
To the Editor:
I am continually impressed with how
clearly and tastefully each issue is laid
out. It's difficult to find a paper that is so
visually pleasing, and uncluttered. It's
also refreshing to read reporting that is
sensitive and non-racist.
My appreciation to all of the Observer
HOW TO GET AHEAD IN AFFIRM ATIVE ACTION
staff.
Portland O b server
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y
i
is open to all people and wanting to
assure minorities that they are welcome
into the party
As soon as Blacks and
other minorities begin to believe there's
some truth in this open door policy by the
Republican Party, the Republicans slam
the door in their faces with an unwelcome
sign of "no" affirmative action.
I think it is important that Blacks and
other minorities and all affected persons
remember the actions of the Republicans
at the Dorchester Conference and let
their feelings he known come election
time. If the Republican Party is going to
have thumbs down on affirmative action,
then Blacks and other minorities should
have thumbs down on the Republican
Party in the voting booth
Labor law reform : The broader issue
Fight bigotry
t k a tj
B o s s ... I
T dltmosT For<jo4’ X uJorR -fo r
p e o p le ’ M 3 m a n i 11
This past weekend at the Dorchester
Conference the Republican Party unanl
mousiy xayoed Affirm ative Action by a
convincing vote of 365 to 138.
The
convention delegates said "no" on the
statement w hich was brought to the floor
at the Dorchester Conference: "Should
the law require affirmative action as a
means of correcting past or present
discrimination In employment or educa
tion?" Along with the overwhelming "no"
vote, there were seventeen abstentions
After the Republicans voted against
affirmative action. Donna Zajonc. Salem,
a Republican legislative candidate said
the lopsided vote on the discrimination
issue occurred, she thinks, because of a
misunderstanding over the way the dele
I am w riting as a citizen, parent of a
first grader, representative of a neigh
borhood association. Community Coali
tion for School Integration member.
Citizens For Quality Education For All
Children member and graduate student
in the PSU Urban Planning program.
1 attended the School Board meeting at
which the City Schools Commission pro
posal was presented and. then and
afterwards, detailed some of the com
mumty concerns with the content of this
proposal and the process of its formula
tion The proposal was written by city
and school district staff and lobbied by
S u p e rin te n d en t Blanchard w ith o u t
School Board or public input. A prime
concern is that the proposal allows the
City Council (choosing from the Mayor's
nominees I and the School Board to
a.i.ieaat Commission members.
This
process can not allow (or the democratic
representation of the community.
On 2.22 I and others found out by
chance that the M olt Foundation would
be considered by the City Council. Arriv
ing at the Council Chambers we were
informed by Allan W eber of the Mayor's
Office that consideration would be post
poned until 2/23. L ater we found that the
Council did .«ess the proposal on 2, 22. Is
this citizen participation?
I am disappointed that a Mayor whom I
have liked and trusted could support such
a plan and am disgusted by his and the
District's efforts to ramrod this proposal
through with as little publicity as pos
sible. Politicians and planners - You
work far this community, you do not ewa
it!
If you want community respect,
support and cooperation for plans and
programs, you must ears them by tre a t
ing the community with respect and by
insuring that programs are not your
programs but the community’s programs.
Citizens - The only way you will be
treated with respect is to demand it!
Sincerely,
Claudia Fisher
Deadline Rears
(Continued from Page 1 Column 3)
In other late developments. State
Senator Vern Cook confirmed his inten
tion to run for U.8. Senate. So far he has
no opponents in the Democratic race, the
winner of which will face Senator Mark
Hatfield in November.
Another race which promises to hold
great interest is that for Commissioner
Frank Ivancie's City Council seat, which
ia sought by State Senator Stephen
Kafoury and Mike Burton. Arnold Btskar
u, is the lone opponent of City Commission
er Mildred Schwab.
The three contenders for the position
of State Superintendent of Public In
atruction
Superintendent Verne Dun
can. State Senator Fred Heard, and Ruth
McFarland
will speak at the Oregon
Assembly for Black Affairs meeting on
Saturday at 2:00 p.m. at the Masonic
Hall. 116 N.E. Russell
$7.50
*" Tri—County Aroa
$8.00
o»h«r