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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 13, 1984)
i- J K .-s F r . - ’ -3 E c h o e n -’ e w s p a p ir Pc Un î V . s i tv o f re¿ on L i b r a r y L,*A * ü r > • n 97433 Happy Father’s Day Dead ¡n the w ater Herndon to be delegate? Below Page 2 PORTLAND OBSERMER Volume XIV, Number 34 June 13,1984 25C Per Copy U V tW * «ft h» ( u /«r Z«M Union takes on PP&L by Chuck Goodmacher "Y o u r slock could be affected by P P & L ’ s labor relations policies.” This was the message brought to stockholders o f Pacific Power and L ig h t by o ffic ia ls o f the United Mine Workers, Wednesday, at the corporation's annual meeting at the Lloyd Center Red Lion Inn. Cecil Roberts, International Vice- president o f the U nited Mine W o rke r's U nion, to ld the O b server a "c o rp o ra te cam paign” against Pacific Power and L ig ht (PP& L) is needed to force the cor poration to bargain in good fa ith with the union representatives of the 330 miners o f the Decker coal mine near Sheridan, W yom ing PP&L owns 100 percent o f Nerco, In c., which owns 50 percent o f the Decker mine. Gerard K. Drummond, president of Nerco, claims his company is not 'responsible fo r negotiations. Rather, he said, the co-owner (Peter Kiewit and Sons) has responsibility for labor contracts and Nerco only " m o n ito r s " the process. D ru m mond also said, "there has been an extremely large number of meetings in which good faith bargaining has occurred.” He added, Nerco "d id not ask for any concessions," but also slated, Literacy project lacks space James VanDyke, Executive Dean o f the Cascade campus, adm itted the institution had not given Hines adequate space “ But on May 15th, I promised him additional space which he has now. As soon as the Com m ercial A rts project is completed, he w ill move into a private o ffice ." When asked why a program , which demands privacy, like the literacy p ro je ct, did not have a private o ffice . Van Dyke replied, " I t is the nature o f this institution that we do not have private offices. The faculty members are in open o f fice areas and Hines has what other people have.” Van Dyke added (hat he was not aware o f H ines’ five d iffe re n t telephone extensions, but said the college had been in the process o f having its phone system adjusted. " I anticipated him m oving to called 'corporate campaigns' that union members have been forced to undertake to win fa ir collective bargaining agreements w ith unreasonable employers such as J.P. Stevens. " Y o u r company soon w ill become the target o f such a cam paign unless you begin to bargain seriously w ith our members at the Decker Coal Company mine near Sheridan, Wyoming " Roberts said the e ffo rt against PP &L is to be " a full-scale c o r porate compaign, similar in nature to the J.P. Stevens campaign a few years a g o ." He added, "W e don't want a m ajor c o n fro n ta tio n w ith PP&L but if we have to, we'll take them on.” Frank Shurter, secretary of UMW local 1972, which represents the miners at Decker, says the union en joys tremendous support there Shurter says ninety percent o f the miners have v o lu n ta rily signed U M W dues c h e ck-o ff cards; something they are not required to do u n til after a contract has been reached. The U nited M ine W orkers o f Am erica has 225.(MM) members throughout twenty different states and two provinces of ( unada. Protestors greet Navy on Bridge by l.amta Duke G R ASSR O O T NEWS. N. W — Tyrone Hines, director of the North/ Northeast Literacy P roject, re cently indicted the adm inistration o f Portland Com m unity College's Cascade campus w ith fa ilu re to provide the necessary institutional support to run a successful literacy program within the community. "T he Cascade Campus originally agreed to give the project space to operate but the space is visible to all. In our first two weeks, I had no desk u ntil fin a lly they gave me one that was falling apart at the seams A f ter three weeks, I received a telephone, and since February 13th, I have been given five d iffe re n t phone extensions." Hines said these circumstances have negatively effected his program. " I have to interview people in a 4 x 4 open space. It is a big step when our clients adm it they need help. But when they come to me, many w ill not come back because they are intimidated by the environment.” "w e have asked for some employee p a rtic ip a tio n in sharing medical costs (the company now pays 100 percent." United Mine Workers purchased PP &L stock specifically so they could attend, and speak to, the cor p o ra tio n 's annual sto ckh o ld e r’ s meeting UM W spokesperson Joe Corcoran said the union was present to "le t the community at large know what kind o f labor relations climate PP&L has outside o f Portland.” The UMW' won the rig ht to represent Decker’ s 330 miners last August when they defeated the "Progressive Mineworkers U nion," a union (hey say is basically weak and company oriented. Since then, says Roberts, the company has “ not negotiated in good f a it h , " and called tactics "a n attempt to force an extended strike "d u rin g *h ich time, “ the company w ill replace the workers." In a letter to Don C. Frisbee, Chairm an of PP & L, United Mine Worker president Richard Trumka wrote: " I am writing to ask that you take immediate action to prevent a major c o n fro n ta tio n between your com pany and members of our Union. " I am sure you have heard of so- by Robert Lothian fc Literacy Project D irector Tyrone Hinea private quarters so I could not see spending 590 (M) to move his exten sion when we would have had to move it again. Hines said durin g the last five m onths he had id e n tifie d space opening up, but whenever he requested its u tiliz a tio n , he was always denied. Van Dyke added (hat Hines was not alone w ith inadequate space. The entire campus is experiencing a space crunch which w ill be alleviated once the construction on the new classroom building is com pleted Hines said, “ I have no complaints with other programs on campus, but the programs for ethnic minorities' needs are given very little space to operate from I want the community to become aware o f the fact that P.C.C. Cascade is giving lip service to the community by saying they are committed to the com m unity But they are not backing up their vocal commitment with action." C urren tly, Hines is loo king for new space to house the Literacy project and is meeting his clients (Photo Richard J. Brown) either at the North Portland Branch L ib ra ry , at th e ir homes, or in Cascade's cafeteria. IMAACP to hear Clark The National Association for the Advancement o f Colored People has invited Mayor-Elect Bud Clark to meet w ith them at the regular Branch Meeting to be held on the th ird Sunday, June 17th, at 4:00 p.m. at the Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church, 3138 N. Vancouver Avenue. Rev. O.B W illiams is the host pastor. The public is invited. "Since we are to have a change in our city administration, we thought the sooner we could make the acquaintance o f our m ayor-to-be the b e lte r,” M rs. Hazel G. Hays, Branch President said. "...W e wan ted him to have the opportunity to meet w ith our c o m m u n ity " Hays continued, especially since general meetings are not held in July and August. As fireboats sprayed huge fo u n tains o f river water and helicopters buzzed overhead, 30 protestors stopped the Rose Festival fleet for an hour Thursday by refusing to move from the Burnside Bridge TheU.S.S. Leahy, flagship of the fleet, lay dead in the water with a re tinue o f attending tugboats. The protestors said the Leahy, a 550- fo o t-lo n g state o f-th e -a rt guided missile cruiser, and other ships in the fle et, were nuclear capable. They said the ships might be carry ing nuclear weapons into Portland, putting (he city in danger At least one o f the ships, they said, had been part o f the fleet sent to C entral Am erica in President Reagan's latest round of gunboat diplomacy. "W e 've stopped the boat, we’ ve succeeded!," exclaimed one o f the bridge blockaders. "N o warships in P o rtlan d ” and "W elcom e Sailors But Not Your Nukes," read banners hung from the bridge rail P o rtlan d police were taken by surprise. They joked and bantered w ith those on the bridge as they wailed fo r orders and paddy wag ons. Seven protestors were arrested and charged with "unlaw ful use o f a bridge by pedestrians," a violation rather than a crime, which carries a maximum penalty of a SIGO fine A coalition o f groups sponsored the protest, including Alert Latin A m erica, New Clear V ision, No M inor Cause, Northwest Action for Disarmament, and People's Clear inghouse. “ We don’t welcome these ships to the C ity o f P o rtla n d ,” said Ada Sanchez, 30, o f People's ( tearing house. "They are not something fun to take kids on. They are not fun ships. They are death ships." , Portland Pollea offlcara ram ova protaator N orm an Solomon from the Burnalda Bridge aa dam onatratora gathered. Thursday, In an ef fort to delay tha nuclear fleet'a participation in laat w e e k e n d ’a Roae Festival (Photo: Krla A ltucherl "T h ey have no place in the Rose Festival," said Lisa Stein, 23. Not everyone agreed with the pro testors. " I think this is crazy,” said Lloyd Clark o f Tucson, A r il., who was visiting fo r the Rose Festival. “ Good going, boys," he said to the police after they made the arrests. Floyd Thompson o f Aloha was on the ship, having participated in an excursion from A s to ria spon sored by the Navy League. "W e were hoping the fireboats w ould spray them o ff the bridge." he said. Navy Regional Public Affairs O f ficer Lt. Cmdr John March), who was also on the ship, said the protest "really wasn't much of a problem,” although the sailors anxious fo r their shore leave were a little dis appointed A senior adm iral o f the Pacific Fleet, ( A "P e te " Faster ling, was also on board, he said " T h a t ’ s why we’ re in u n ifo rm and that's exactly what we d o ," said M archi, "is to protect the right of those people on the bridge Io do what they d o ." M archi said it was the policy o f the Defense Department to neither c o n firm nor deny the presence o f nuclear weapons on Navy ships. Ac cording to m aterial furnished by M archi, the Leahy served as flag ship fo r the New Jersey Battle G roup o ff the coast o f C entral America in 1983. The ship is named after Fleet A d m ira l W illia m Daniel Leahy, who, among other things, was chief o f staff in the Nicaraguan Occupa lion o f 1912 and the Haitian Cam paign o f 191ft. The I.cahy is armed w ith surface-to-air missiles, a n ti subm arine rockets, torpedoes, cruise missiles and the Close In Weapons System
