Happy Thanksgiving
Holiday
Indian fishing
Books
under attack
Holmes vs
Frazier
Page 8
Page 3
Below
PORTLAND OBSERVER
Volume XIV, Number 5
November 23, 1983
25C Per Copy
Greyhound strike:
Drivers resist pay cuts
by Robert Lothian
" T a k e Greyhound, and leave the
driving to us," has traditionally
meant that passengers on Am erica’s
largest bus line could travel with
confidence, knowing that experi
enced drivers would deliver them
safely to their destination.
But not any more— not since the
strike and replacement o f G rey
hound’s experienced drivers and
baggage handlers with strikebreak
ers by a management intent on
union busting, says Ed M attingly,
vice-president of the Amalgamated
Transit Workers, Local 1055.
Greyhound was shut down for
two weeks, but resumed limited ser
vice with replacement employees as
thousands of union picketers dem
onstrated, threw eggs and attempted
to keep busses from rolling in cities
across the U.S.
Vaneeaa Williams, Miss American, signs an
autograph for Taji Shamaud din.7, at Fred Mayer
Interstate store this week
(Photo: Richard J. Brown)
Woodburn Chicanos organize
W O O D B U R N , O R — Concerned
members and supporters o f W o o d
burn's Mexican community met N o
vember 15th to form a new organ
ization. La Com unidad Unida para
Justicia (T h e C o m m u n ity U n ited
for Justice).
La Com unidad Unida para Justi
cia has been formed in response to
the widespread concerns in W o o d
burn's M exican com m unity about
Woodburn Police Department prac
tices. These concerns were most re
cently and vocally demonstrated at
S u n d a y ’ s co m m u n ity m eeting,
called by the State Comm ission on
Hispanic A ffa irs , attended by over
120 co m m u n ity residents. T he o r
ganization w ill adopt a long-range
plan o f action aimed at addressing
c iv il rig hts v io la tio n s . It has in
formed the U .S. Department of Jus
tice, Com m unity Relations Service,
that its representatives are prepared
to meet w ith W o o d b u rn C ity o f f i
cials to present its proposals.
Selected as co-chairs for La C o
m u n id ad were C ip ria n o F e rrc l,
Jesus Lopez Jr., and M argarita G a r
cia.
M em bers o f La C o m u n id ad o b
served the entire proceedings at the
M a rio n C o u n ty Courthouse o f the
inquest into the killing o f Jose Inez
M unoz-M edina by a W oodburn po
lice o ffic e r. The m anner in which
the inquest was conducted raised
more questions about M u n o z’ death
than it answered.
La Com unidad feels that certain
aspects o f the inquest were handled
in an insensitive manner:
•M an uel De La Cruz and Alberto
M en d ez, inquest witnesses, were
brought into the cou rtro o m , in the
j u r y ’ s presence, dressed in ja il
clothes and handcuffs.
• De La Cruz and Mendez were, in
effect, excluded from the proceed
ings— the only witnesses treated in
th at fa s h io n . T hey w ere the only
witnesses who could not observe the
proceedings and hear the testimony
o f other witnesses.
•There was insufficient question
ing of prospective jurors concerning
possible racial prejudices.
•T h e Assistant D is tric t A t t o r
ney’s question to witness Mendez as
to whether he "looked b ad " in a jail
photo taken hours after the shoot
ing had a p re ju d ic a l e ffe c t, espe
c ia lly since no s im ila r p h o to was
taken o f any o th e r p arty to the
shooting.
The following points, in the view
o f La C o m u n id ad , raise questions
left unanswered by the inquest.
•T h e re was no fo llo w -u p ques
tioning regarding Oregon State Pa
trol expert testimony that Sgt. Bout-
w ell's gun had less than standard
pressure on the trig ger B o u tw e ll
was never asked w hether his gun
was cocked at the m om ent it d is
charged.
•T h e re was no testim on y as to
possible fin g e rp rin ts or lack o f
fingerprints on B outw ell’s gun and
flashlights.
• De La Cruz was never asked how
many patrol cars he saw and when.
•S ix o f the witnesses that were
present at A b b ey’s Pizza told sim i
lar versions as to the o ffic e r's ac
tions upon arrival at the Woodburn
M otel. The one individual, also pre
sent at Abbey's, who had related a
different version o f events, was not
adequately questioned.
La Com unidad Unida para Justi
cia can be reached at 982-0243.
Federal, State prosecutors target
traditional Indian fisher people
As families sit down together this
week to remember the first Thanks
giving Day on which, according to
legend, the Indian people and the
Pilgrims ate together in peace.
Northwest Indians are facing the
full force o f the U.S. government in
its attempt to restrict their fishing
rights.
Traditional Indian fisher people,
who live along the Colum bia and its
tributaries and practice the tradi
tional religion and life style, are be
ing systematically persecuted by the
federal government and the states o f
Oregon and Washington
Last year, over 75 people were a r
rested and indicted by multiple ju r
isdictions. In some cases entire fam
ilies were arrested. Harsh and vio
lent raids were made against fishing
villages, with firearms and threats
o f physical abuse. Homes were
wrecked; personal property, cars.
fishing gear, legal documents and
other items were taken.
David So Happy, sentenced to
five years in prison and five years
probation for fishing, said recently,
" I am a traditional Indian. I have
been exercising my rights to fish
even though I had to go to ja il three
or four times. I have been indicted,
jailed, chained for fishing, but I still
continue to live the way Elders
taught me.
" W e must have salmon for our
way o f life, for ceremonies in the
longhouse, for name giving, memo
rials, fish food; we must have the
salmon. That is the way I have been
taught. . . .
" I continue to resist. I ’ve chased
wardens. They wouldn’t issue any
citations but only take my fish,
game, nets. I documented all this
hoping to get help to regain what
I ’ve lost. Sometimes ‘law enforce-
ment’ comes at night in riot gear, to
take my nets. They come in air
planes and boats to take from my
home and hold me there. They beat
up my boy and took him to jail.
They charged hime with assault and
resisting arrest, and sentenced him
to ten years in jail and ten years pro
bation.
" F o r fishing I was sentenced to
five years in ja il and five years pro
bation, and my nephew 20 years in
jail and 20 years probation. In our
defense case they would not allow
use o f our treaty. W e were found
guilty under the Lacey Act, that says
you cannot sell fish across state
lines. They bought the fish just so
we could go to jail.
" W e are religious people. The E l
ders come and trade for what we
use. I f we are asked to give first to
longhouses, we give with no profit.
(Please turn to page 2 column 4)
g flK M M
" T h e public, in our opinion, is
being used by M r. Teets (G rey
hound Chairman John W Teets| to
prove to us that he can operate that
service, and the unfortunate thing
is, the service is offered by non-pro
fessionals," said M attingly.
Replacement drivers are being
sent out on icy roads after a two-
week crash course, he said, while
their union counterparts had 8 to 16
weeks o f training and first went on
the road in spring and summer,
when road conditions are best.
“ It actually takes five years to be
come a professional, skillled d ri
v e r," said M attingly, who has driv
en heavy equipment for 40 years, 23
as a Greyhound driver. "A n d that’s
why I say M r Teets has complete
disregard for the p ublic."
M attingly said an accident in
Fresno, involving a bus driven by a
strikebreaking trainee and a car
which refused to yield, might have
been avoided had a skilled profes
sional been driving the bus.
"T h e re ’ s been many accidents
avoided simply because we know
what to look for and how to react to
it. As far as the public is concerned,
not the company, but the profes
sional, skilled drivers have given
Greyhound the professional record
that they lay claim to. We are re
sponsible for that, not these strike
breakers."
M attingly said the union member
ship held firm against manage
ment's ultimatum that they go back
to work or lose their jobs, with only
six out o f nearly 600 crossing the
picket line.
The strike resulted from union re
jection o f management's contract
offer o f 23.5 percent wage and bene
fit cuts. Greyhound says it needs the
cuts to slay competitive with other
bus companies and deregulated air
lines. The union, said M attingly, is
willing to offer some concessions,
but he thinks management’s real
aim is to break the union, not nego
tiate a contract.
" T h e company's ultimatum was
take it or leave it, that's it ," said
M attingly. "W e believe that they ac
tually wanted us to go on strike as
their first step in a union busting ef
fort. The company could spend m il
lions to break the union and regain
it in a couple of months if they got
what they w an t."
" W e ’re in a fight for our very ex
istence as a union. The end result of
this fight w ill be the determining
factor in the survival of the rest of
the A T U membership that is cm
ployed by other bus lines. I f G rey
hound is successful in its efforts to
break the u n io n ." he added, "then
other national conglomerates will be
encouraged to do the same thing "
The union requests that the public
refrain from patronizing G rey
hound, said M attingly. In addition,
he said, other unions, aware o f what
the strike outcome could mean to
them, have offered money and help
manning the picket lines, and a na
tionally advertised passenger boy
cott endorsed by the A F L -C IO lead
ership is in the offing " I t will come
to that if the strike continues,” he
said.
M attingly is concerned about the
safety o f passengers should strike
related violence spill out onto the
highways.
“ This union does not condone vi
olence, particularly violence which
might involve injury to public, pay
ing passengers. But it should be real
ized that, even if we don't advocate
or condone violence, the anger and
frustration and sometimes the ac
tions o f the membership cannot be
controlled simply because three
union officers cannot be with all 6<X)
members at one time watching every
move they m ake.”
Musician undaunted by illness
by l.anita Duke
Grassroot News. N. W .— In the
summer of 1975 M orell McCree was
a young man living from a life plan
that he designed. He has just re
ceived his Second Class F .C .C . li
cense and wav in Canada playing
bass with a band called The Best of
Friends.
Fate dealt McCree a different
hand when, on stage in Canada, he
had his first attack of multiple scle
rosis— the great cnppler of young
adults.
"T h e attack paralyzed me in
stantly. I recovered and here it is
eight years later I'm back at
school.” McCree is a first year po
litical science major at Portland
Slate University.
In between classes McCree said,
" In the beginning people didn't un
derstand what had happened to me.
Now , they understand because they
realize that it could happen to them.
They have adjusted and so have I . "
D r. John Hammerstad, McCree's
physician, explained the debilitating
process o f M .S. on the body; “ M .S.
is a disease destroying the functions
of the central nervous system. The
nerve coverings are destroyed and
dissolved. The nerves are left bare
which is why they don't function
properly. This produces symptoms
like abnormalities in sensations and
weaknesses in the arms and legs.”
Dr. Hammersad called McCree's a t
tack "severe."
McCree recalled one of the exper
iences he has faced since his handi
cap “ Once before I got in a wheel
chair this man saw me walking and
thought I was drunk. He told me to
leave but when he saw my wheel
chair he started apologizing. I
thought that was fu n n y."
His movements may be restricted
by the wheelchair but his mind is
afire with ideas and solutions to
(Please turn to page h column 3)
In apita of illnaaa. Morall McCraa rataina hia Involvamant and In
taraat.
(Photo: Richard J. Brown)