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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 10, 1981)
Page 2 Portland Observer, December 10, 1981 EEOC Commissioner sees civil rights retreat Equal Em ploym ent O p p o rtu n ity C om m issioner D r. A rm a n d o M . R odriquez described the p lig h t o f his organization to a Portland Com m u n ity College audience Wednes day, explaining that the slow c o n fir m a tio n process in W a sh in g to n , D C. means they are w orking w ith out a q u o ru m . They are dow n to two commissioners from the normal five. Q uickly focusing on the issue, he said, "These are not good days fo r those o f us who believe in and work hard fo r equal employment o p p o r tu n ity .” D r. R odriguez em phasized the progress that has been made in civil rights, human rights and discrimina tio n in the past tw o decades. H is records show they are receiving tnore charges in age discrim ination and equal pay, leading to the belief that employers s till deal w ith some employees differently than others. " A n d I have the feeling that the current adm inistration is not send ing out any strong signals suggesting a change in attitude or a ctio n ," Dr. Rodriguez said. R odriguez was a p poin ted by President Carter as a Commissioner o f the EEOC on September 11, 1978 fo r a five year term ending July I, 1983. Stressing the language o f the 1964 C ivil Rights Act, which says, " I t is the policy o f the United States to in sure equal employment o p p o rtu n i ties for employees w ithout discrimii- nation because o f race, color, re li gion, sex o r national o r ig in ." D r. Rodriguez indicated that "there is a growing resentment and a vigorous campaign mounting both w ithin the current a d m in istra tio n and w ith in the private sector against a ffirm a tiv e a ctio n as a via b le concept to carry out the legislative mandate o f Title V II.” Although the rules are being test ed, D r. R odriguez in d ica te d the CHRISTMAS TREE SALES courts continue to uphold the law. A t this p o in t, how ever, Senator Hatch o f Utah has introduced a bill calling fo r a constitution al amend ment to lim it affirm ative action. and down Christmas tree stand included in all tree sales. Corner of Alberta & Vancouver Also an issue, is the reduction in the w orkforce now occurring in the public sector. M ore often than not those w ith seniority on the jo b are not necessarily those who have been hired since a ffirm a tiv e action p o li cies started, thus elim inating many o f the women and m in o ritie s who have found em ploym ent in the last two decades. Dr. Rodriguez posed a number o f questions regarding enforcement by the a d m in is tra tio n as w ell as changes in policies. He suggested "th a t all o f us in the business o f civil rights and employment discrim ina tio n need to seek out in fo rm a tio n and develop strategy to make sure that the ultimate answers or decision support our philosophy and belief.” Open 7 Days A Week 10 am-10 pm. brought to you evtry week by A M E R IC A N STATE B A N K America s first commercial oil well wasn t in Texas, as you'd expect, but in Titusville, Pa. DR. ARM ANDO M. RODRIQUEZ Labor relations expert relieves tensions Tensions, problems and concerns are everyday occurences for Andrea Belcher. You have them . Doesn’ t everybody? But w ith Belcher, ten sions are wholesale fo r tensions are her w orkday package. It m ight be better said that the reduction o f ten sion is her business. Andrea Belcher is manager o f the department o f employee and labor relations at Good Samaritan hospi tal w ith its 2800 employees. W ith the diversity o f jobs represented in an in s titu tio n o f th a t size and na ture, Belcher must understand the union contract language o f five sep arate unions. U n io n members be long to either: (1) the Service Em ployees International U nion, Local 49; or (2) Oregon Society o f Radio- logic Technology; or (3) Oregon L i censed P ra c tic a l Nurses A ssocia tion; or (4) International U nion o f Operating Engineers Local 87; or (5) School o f Nursing (which has an in formal bargaining arrangement). Then there is management. M an agement has a stake in personnel ac tions on an individua l basis as well as in periodic labor contract nego tiations. Belcher must have total re- call on management needs and re quirements. She needs to be fam iliar w ith w orkers’ com pensation, both federal and state, o ccu p a tio n a l health and safety laws as w ell as wage and salary policies and much more. ‘ ‘ Som etim es o n ly a short ta lk w ith an em ployee g iv in g h im , or her, a d iffe re n t view or interpreta tion o f a grievance is enough to re solve the p ro b le m ,” says Andrea. “ A b o u t 90 per cent o f em ployee problem s can be dissolved w ith a m inim um o f tim e and fric tio n , but sometimes we must resort to an ad justm ent board to reach a decision i f the h o s p ita l, the union and the employee are a ll in vo lve d . In that case we call in two persons selected by the h o sp ita l (fro m o u tsid e , o f course), two persons selected by the un io n , and one outside a rb ite r. A m a jo rity o p in io n decides the o u t come.” A certain am ount o f discreet in vestigation is needed now and then, personal co u nsellin g is o fte n re q u ire d , and a constant flo w o f com m unication must be kept open to keep w o rk in g re la tio n sh ip s at th e ir best and employee feedback satisfactory, Belcher noted. A Portlander fo r most o f her 35 years Ms. Belcher was educated at Im m aculate H eart elem entary school and N o rth C a th o lic H igh School. Psychology and Industrial • The U .S . Suprem e C ourt once ruled th a t the income tax was unconstitutional. • R elations classw ork drew her to P.C .C . and P ortland State U niver sity. She lives now in Hazel D ell. Form er em ploym ent includes nine years at Kaiser Permancntc offices in d o w n to w n P o rtla n d where she form ed her taste fo r in te n s ifie d work in personnel services. How docs she handle her own ten sions, w ork-produced or personal? " I have a huge yard at my house,” Belcher says. “ I cut the grass and I do better w ith the weeds. O r, 1 cook. I make very good bread and 1 knead it well. I make pans and pans o f rolls and put them in my freezer. 1 make relishes too, and jam s and jellies. 1 canned 200 jars this sum mer. And none o f it goes to waste.” It seems hard to believe, but a man continued to serve as U.S. Vice-President AFTER being indicted for murder. He was Aaron Burr, V.P. under Thomas Jefferson. Burr was indicted for killing Alexander Hamilton in a duel, but remained Vice-President. • The w orld's first drive-in movie opened in 1933 in Camden, N.J American State Bank AN INDEPENDENT BANK Head Office 2 7 37 N. E. Union Portland, Oregon 9721 2 Federal cuts threaten HAP The H ousing A u th o rity o f P o rt land has warned that the Reagan A d m in istra tio n 's proposed appro priations, to be considered by Con gress by December 15th, spell disas ter for public housing. The interim budget resolution be fore Congress u n fa irly burdens public housing authorities with cuts o f 38 per cent, w hile across-the- board cuts in other areas are in the four to five per cent range. H A P operates 5100 units o f low - income housing in w hich 13,000 people live. O ne-half o f the tenants are elderly people living on fixed in comes. More than 80 per cent o f the fam ilies earn less than $5,000 per year. H A P has a w a itin g lis t o f 3,500 and the U.S. Departm ent o f H ousing and U rban D evelopm ent estimates that an additional 61,000 households qualify fo r public hous ing. - H A P absorbed a 15 per cent cut in operating funds in fiscal 1981. The proposed budget would bring an ad ditional 31 per cent cut. C u rre n tly 53 per cent o f the agency budget comes fro m federal subsidies, the rem ainder from ten ants’ rents. Because federal law re stricts rent payments to 15 per cent o f incom e, H A P cannot increase rents to meet its costs. Rather, it w ill have to curtail management, m ain tenance and services. There is serious question whether costs can be saved w ith o u t endan gering the safety and health o f ten ants. D u rin g the past year u tility costs increased by 20 per cent, while H U D used and estim ate o f 11 per cent in determ ining funding. Since u tility costs w ill rise in 1982, there w ill not be adequate funds to meet the expense. Maintenance on H A P ’ s$l25 m il lion investment w ill also be in dan ger. Read the Observer every week. Subscribe today! Call 283 2486 » t
