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