Season’s greetings fr o m the Observer sta ff
* O'Jays boycott
Kwanzaa
South Africa
calendar
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Margaret Carter
announces race
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PORTLAND OBSERVER
U *P S 959-680-855
©
Volume XIV, Number 9
December 21, 1983
25C Per Copy
Two Section»
Pubtatunt Ce. /<*
Christmas layoffs:
Greyhound sells Armour
long-term workers fired
by Robert Lothian
Union workers who lost their jobs
at the Armour meat processing
plant in North Portland think that
old Scrooge could take a few lessons
from the managers of Greyhound
and ConAgra corporations.
Eight days before Christmas, as
the thermometer dipped into the
20s, 190 Armour employees were
put out of work as Greyhound made
good on its plan to sell its Armour
subsidiary to ConAgra, a chemical
and processed food conglomerate.
th e plant on North Tyndall
Avenue and Columbia Blvd., which
produces hams, wieners, sausage
and lunchmeat, was closed on Dec.
17th, then reopened two days later
with new owners and a new work
force.
••They’re all gone, all fired, all
laid o ff,” said Keith Jons, presi
dent of United Food and Commer
cial Workers Union Local 1011, re
ferring to the former Armour em-
¿sloyees Most have reapplied for
woik with the new company, he
said.
Greyhound, which won eight per
cent wage cuts in the recent settle
idea what they’re up against,” she
ment with striking drivers and bag
said. “ It ’s cold, heavy, fast work.
gage handlers, says the sale of Ar
Nobody should have to work for
mour, including 13 plants across the
$5.00 an hour under those condi
nation, was forced by a union mas
tions.”
ter agreement which made it impos
Jons added that workers at the
sible for Armour to compete with
other 12 plants around the country
non-union meat packers.
are “ all in the same boat as this
When workers rejected a contract
one.”
calling for wage and benefit cuts,
Donna Cost’s husband, Dave
ConAgra decided to close down and
Cost, had worked for Armour for
hire a new workforce. Greyhound
27 years, starting at age 18. He said
retains an estimated 34 percent of
that in the two months leading up to
ConAgra stock.
the takeover, he had worked 10
" It's definitely a union-busting
hours a day seven days a week as the
strategy,” said Jons. Former em
company built up a stockpile to last
ployees, some of whom had been on
into the spring.
the job for 30 years, "don't particu
County Commissioners smoothed
larly like it, but there’s not a whole
ConAgra’s acquisition of the Port
lot they can do about it,” he said.
land Armour plant by approving the
“ They’re victims of another con
company’s request for $3.5 million
glomerate and our phony labor
in s.ate industrial revenue bonds. As
laws.”
Commissioner Gordon Shadburne
New non-union workers are re
put it, “ I t ’s better to have jobs than
ceiving an average of $5.50 per hour
no jobs.”
while union workers had received an
Jons said that union representa
average of $10.69 per hour, he said.
tives will be out in the morning to
Armour chief shop steward, Don
pass out union literature to the new
na Cost, said that inadequate train
workers in hopes of reorganizing the
ing and longer shifts means that ac
cidents are likely. " I feel very sorry . union. " I don't care if the snow is a
foot deep," he said.
for these new people— they have no
Portlander wins race bias suit
Portlanders won 7 be teeing Ed Whelan again.
The entertaining, freestyle sportscaster is leaving
Newsroom 6 for a spot on NBC Sports in Clave
land. Ohio. We ll mist you. Ed.
(Photo: Richard J. Brown)
Sportscaster Ed Whelan
takes "milk run" to Ohio
by l.anita Duke
Grassroot News. N. W. —One of
T .V .’s most colorful local sports
personalities, Ed Whelan, is packing
up his “ milk run” and moving to
Cleveland, Ohio.
Whelan made K O IN ’s weekend
sportscast something to look for
ward to. His lively reporting style
created a dual audience for Whel
an—one who wanted the results of
the games and the other who wanted
to hear how Whelan reported these
results.
If a team was beaten badly or shut
out of a game, Whelan would say,
"The other team gave them what a
fat boy should have for lunch,” or,
"The other team beat them like a
chain-gang boss.”
Whelan came to K O IN in 1976
from a background in radio. In 1980
he started reporting sports. He
brought not only the experiences of
a news reporter but also the oral his
tory tradition of Afro-Americans to
reporting current sports scores.
He said. "When you are talking
sports you are talking games, and
games are the place for jive, show
ing off, and those kinds of things.”
Born in Florida and raised in Spo
kane. Washington, Whelan played
on a football scholarship for Florida
A & M The sparks now glowing in
the reporting style of other sports
casters compliments Whelan.
He said, “ Imitation is one of the
best forms of flattery. If they cause
people to watch them instead of be
ing dull then it’s better for every
body."
His unique style of broadcasting
earned him Oregon Magazine's 1983
Sportscaster of the Year award
By the time this story is read,
Whelan will be in Cleveland thawing
out his boisterous style of broad
casting. He was hired by NBC
Sports and hopes to use Cleveland
to launch into NBC's national net
work. To say he is excited about the
promotion is an understatement.
He does not see his departure as
part of a brain drain among Black
professionals in Portland. “ People
are sad to see me go but happy for
me because of the opportunity.”
A federal jury has awarded $101,-
250 in damages to Tura M . Kantora.
a Black Portlander, concluding that
employees at a downtown Denny's
Restaurant discriminated against
him on the basis of race.
The all-white, six-person jury re
turned its verdict after nearly 18
hours of deliberation and after a
one and-one-half-day trial before
U.S. District Judge Owen M. Pan-
ncr. The jury disallowed a compan
ion claim of malicious prosecution
that Kantora had filed.
There was evidence at trial that
Kantora, a resident of Northeast
Portland, had married a white wom
an that he had met in 1977 at the res
taurant, 330 S.W. Lincoln St., and
that he lived nearby and went there
frequently, either with or without
his wife.
Kantora testified that one wait
ress at the restaurant gave him bad
service and made some racial slurs
toward him.
He said that on Feb. 15, 1981,
another waitress asked him to give
his phone number in conjunction
with his use of a credit card. Kan
tora testified that when he refused
and offered other identification, an
assistant manager came out and de
manded his phone number. Kantora
said that when he again refused, the
manager told him to leave.
When Kantora refused to leave
without the restaurant accepting
payment by credit card, the police
were called. There was testimony by
Denny’s employees and the police
that Kantora was then told he was
banned from the restaurant.
Kantora testified that he went to
the restaurant again March 2, 1981,
and was served but that the assistant
manager involved in the earlier inci
dent took his food away and told
him to get out. He said that when he
again attempted to pay with his
credit card, police were called and
he was arrested on accusations of
disorderly conduct and second-de
gree criminal trespass.
Kantora was acquitted of those
charges June 24, 1981. He then filed
his suit against Denny’s Restaur
ants, Inc., in federal court, where he
was represented by Portland lawyer
Michael E. Haglund.
Veterans' income
report due Jan. “ist
Democratic Senator Margie
Hendrikaen of Eugana. Oregon,
announced this weak her Inten
tion to run for the United States
Senats seat currently held by
Mark Hatfield (R OR). Hendrik
sen has served In the Oegon
State Legislature since 1880
The Veterans Administration is
reminding pensioners who have re
ceived the agency's Annual Income
Questionnaire (A IQ ) to be sure to
return it immediately to avoid bene
fit interruption on January 1, 1984.
The A IQ was mailed to VA pen
sioners on or about November I. If
you did not receive a questionnaire,
you should contact the nearest VA
regional office either in person or by
telephone. VA also has counselors
standing by if you need help in com
pleting the questionnaire. Veterans
can call VA toll-free; just consult
your local phone directory under the
U.S. Government listing. Also, any
accredited veterans service organiza
lion can help you fill out the ques
tionnaire.
Veterans should not delay return
of the A IQ if they do not know the
amount of unreimbursed medical
expenses paid or expect to pay in
1983. Complete and return the ques
tionnaire now and report these ex
penses later if you do not have the
figures available at this time.
For more information about the
annual A IQ , contact the nearest VA
regional office or a veterans service
organization, and remember, be
sure to mail it to VA before January
I, 1984!
»
A. 4
How do kids see Christmas and Kwanzaa? What
ara thair hopes and draama? The Portland Observer
prasants a kids eye view of the holiday season in
the special section of this issue
(Photo: Richard J. Brown)