Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 15, 1983)
i r a France» Schoen-Newapaper Fooa U n iv e rs ity e t Oregon L ib ra ry c.u£;ne, O rejon 97103 Police/ prostitution r ested Page 2 IU Willie T. Ribbsl The last graduation Winner Page 3 “ Sect. II Page 6 PORTWND OBSERVER USPS »59-6SO-S35 0 £ n r P u M i A iaz i Volume XIII, Number 35 June 15, 1963 25C Per Copy Two sections Ca Zar IM J Medicare, Social Security, cuts due July 1 I f President Reagan's proposals for the 1984 budget go through, at least 40 percent o f those on M edi care will not be able to afford it. As o f October I , 1983, the M edi care charge for the first day in a hospital will be $357 instead o f the previous $350. A two-week stay in the hospital will cost $714; doctors’ fees will be held at the 1982 level but w ill cost more for their Medicare patients. Several bills now in Congress would continue hospital and physi cian charges. The 1983 Social Secu rity A ct, signed into law on April 20, provides that Medicare no longer pay hospitals on a cost-plus basis, but according to a fee schedule. Senior organizations say the piece meal approach will not halt the pressure on the medical, pharma ceutical and insurance industries to raise prices. The health care indus try is among the most profitable of U .S. corporations. An A F L -C IO Council report said that health facil ities in the U.S. continue to be taken over rapidly by profit-m aking cor porations. The Hospital Corp, o f America operates 58 percent o f the private profit hospitals in the U .S. and increased its profits by 35 per cent last year. American Medical In ternational increased its profits by 55 percent. These corporations will also bene fit from the income tax cut scheduled to go into effect on July 1st. In addition to increasing cost o f medical care to Medicare patients, Congress postponed the 1983 cost o f living increase for Social Security recipients from July 1, 1983 to January 1,1984. This is, in effect, a cut since in flation decreases the spending power o f the current payments. The Bipartisan Budget Appeal — whose founding members include a former Secretary o f Commerce and 5 former Secretaries o f the Treasury (Democrat and Republican) — is calling for a one year freeze on cost of living increases for Social Securi ty and other “ entitlement pro grams.” City-wide coalition forms Back on the ground again ara Bolaa Bth graders and thair teacher. Mrs. Laura Qloason, winners of tha Obaarvar/Ooodyaar annual blimp rlda. Wlnr.ers ware. Leslie and Lola Wyllle. Barbara Staplaa and David Stigler. Tha student rlda la provided annually through tha courtesy of the Goodyear Company. (Photo: Dan Longl State aids union-busting efforts by Robert Lothian Larry Burnside thinks the State o f Oregon went scab in awarding a $27 million Banfield light rail freeway widening project to non-union R .A . Hatch Co. o f Bend. Burnside, business representative with the Oregon District Council o f Carpenters, spoke for a dedicated group o f protesters from the building trades unions. Since A pril IS, carpenters, operating engineers, cement masons and other union members have been out near the work area between NG 39th and 87th Avenues from 6 a.m . until 2 p.m . five days a week with placards and bullhorns trying to get Hatch employees to go union. "Basically, what we are protest ing, is letting out a contract to a non-union contractor." he said. The protesters are also concerned about the quality o f work being per formed by Hatch, and employment o f out-of-state workers, he said. W hat motivates the pickets to show up day after day, facing pos sible arrest? “ The construction in dustry is depressed, there’s nothing out there," said Burnside. " W e ’re looking at 75% unemployment." “ Our members are stuck between a rock and a hard spot. They’ re losing homes, cars, they’re having fam ily problems, a lot are leaving. They’re also being abused at the un employment o ffice,” he said. “ They’ ll call 10 carpenters into a room and offer them a minimum wage job and they have to take it or lose their benefits." (Those receiving unemployment benefits are required to “ look for and be willing to take any work the Em ployment Division may determine is suitable” ). Burnside contends that such poli cies are part o f an anti-union drive “ right down from Reagan" to force down wages and benefits and bust unions. "U nions made this tow n,” said Burnside. "U nions have set the standards for wages and working conditions for all people.” But now, said Burnside, “ every contract I deal w ith, they’re just out to tear you apart. And our governor, he wouldn’t even talk to the A F L - C IO .” he said, referring to the cold shoulder Atiyeh has given to Oregon labor leaders since they supported Ted Kulongoski in the last election. " I would assume that all the state bodies under the governor go along with h im ," said Burnside. State inspectors are casting a blind eye on Hatch safety viola tions, according to Burnside. Oxy- Acetylene tanks are allowed to lay on the ground while they are sup posed to be chained upright, and Hatch employees wear aluminum hard hats, even though they were outlawed because they conduct elec tricity, he said. According to Vicky Rocker, spokeswoman for the Oregon Dept. o f Transportation, “ we don’t have any safety or work violations on file. W e are required by law to ac cept the lowest bidder. Hatch is not new to us, we’ve had good results in the past Personally, from a public relations standpoint, they are quite helpful. We haven’t any complaints." But, according to Burnside, in spectors take pictures o f the pickets instead o f doing their jobs. “ They're there," he said, “ but they’ re not in specting. They’re with H a tc h ." Burnside also charges that Hatch's non-union employees are under- qualified and responsible for shoddy workmanship. A concrete wall near 60th avenue "looks like hell" and will have to be redone at consider able expense, he said. "T h a t's us, that’s our tax dollars. I f you had qualified people there to start, it would have been right the first tim e.” Burnside thinks the state needs to look at contractor qualifications in addition to lowest bid in order to in sure a quality job for taxpayers. "O n e o f our goals is to inform the public, the taxpayers, that they're being ripped o f f ," he said. Burnside also contends that no blacks or women in the skilled trades are employed by Hatch. Hatch has appeared on T V news several times vociferously arguing with protesters. W hat hasn’t been publicized, according to Burnside, were the times Hatch passed out anti-union literature endorsed by a radical right wing group, and the two occasions he hit protesters with his pickup. ¡Please turn to Page 4 Column 3) A coalition o f city-wide organiza tions met with an organizing group, the Committee for Restoration of the M etropolitan Hum an Relations Commission, M onday night at Sunnyside Methodist Church in Southeast Portland. it was unanimously agreed that efforts should press forward for full restoration o f M H R C staff and pro gramming. The office’s budget was cut more than half with staff reduc tions and program transfers during recent City Council budget hearings at the request o f Commissioner Margaret Strachan, Council Liaison to M H R C . The city-wide support committee organized following an Observer Comm unity Forum on the issue M ay 21st. Its purpose is to coordi nate and facilitate the efforts o f or ganizations and individuals wanting to show visible support for restora tion o f M H R C staff and programs and for maintenance o f a centralized human rights office and commission. The committee is chaired by Fred M ilton. The coalition is asking organiza tions and individuals to write letters to the City Council or to the coali tion, which will forward them, and to call City Commissioners’ offices. To offer individual names or organi zation names in support o f M H R C restoration, call 284-1816, write to the Committee for Restoration of the M H R C . 4431 N .E . Ainsworth, Portland 97218, or complete and mail the form below by June 23th. Grenadan leader advocates peace in region by Tim Wheeler W A S H IN G T O N . June 2 — In a speech to the Organization o f A m er ican States (O A S) yesterday. Prime Minister M aurice R. Bishop o f Grenada rebutted President Reagan's hostile attacks on the C a r ibbean nation and urged the U .S . to reestablish normal relations. Bishop spoke in the ornate, chan- deliered “ H all o f the States" to an audience that included O A S Secre tary General Alejandro O r fils and the ambassadors and representatives from the O AS* 30 member nations including Grenada’s ambassador, Dessima W illiams. Bishop charged that persistent efforts by his government to estab lish and maintain "norm al and mutually respectful relations” with the U .S. have been “ ignored or re b uffed" by the Reagan administra tion. H e assailed President Reagan’s recent televised attacks on Grenada in which he displayed aerial photos o f a new airstrip under construction on the tiny island which Reagan claims poses a military threat to the U .S. " I reaffirm what representatives o f our government and people have said so many times before: that Grenada constitutes no threat to the United S û te s ," he said. “ We repeat that the new International Airport is a civilian project vital to the eco nomic development o f our country." Recognized ee vital He pointed out that successive governments over the pest 23 years have discussed the urgent need for the new airport, adding, " it is also a project which past U .S. and Canadi an administrations have recognized as vital to the development o f our tourist industry. We have received assisunce for the project from countries throughout the world and its importance to our economic de velopment is unquestionable." The youthful prime minister also condemned the Reagan administra tion for excluding aid to Orenada, Nicaragua and Suriname in its so- called “ Caribbean Basin Initiative." “ The unity o f our people must not be compromised by attempts to di- vide us,” he said. " I f assisunce is to be g iv e n .. .then it must be given to all countries o f the area without dis crim ination." Bishop quoted Simon Bolivar, Jose M arti and the Grenadian patri ot Theophilus Marryshow in urging unity o f the peoples of Latin Am eri ca and the Caribbean against neo- colonial dom ination and outside m ilitary force. H e cited the "heroic and unconquerable people of Central Am erica” , especially the people of Nicaragua. W hile not mentioning Reagan's covert war against Nicaragua, Bishop said, " I f we truly aim at peace in our region, at the individual development o f each (Please turn to Page 5 Column ! ) Patricia Loving, daughter of Willie and Roesie Loving, racalvad tha Portland Observer Journalism Award at her graduation ceremony Thursday. The award la presented each year to tha Boise Elementary School 8th grade Journalism student who beet typifies the ethics of Journalism, academic excellence and school or community service (Photo: Richard J. Brown)
