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PORTLAND OBSERVER
Volume XV, Number 20
March 13, 1985
25c Copy
Two Sections
U t H M ft OBO « 6
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Arson-set fires plague
Tubman School
by l.anita Duke
Sen Che. 7 years old, operates one of the classroom
computers with Instructions from computer coordi-
nator Allan Grinnell while Demeka william« R years
old. looks on during Open House at Vernon School.
(Photo- Richard J. Brown)
arrested in Swan Island dispute
by Robert Lothian
Eighteen persons were arrested on
Swan Island Feb. 28th and 29th as
they protested the non-union practices
o f two out-of-state contractors.
As about 100 demonstrators looked
on, some of those present parked cars
across N. Lagoon Ave., blocking ealy
morning access to the job site and
tying up traffic back to Interstate 5.
Their cars were towed.
Unemployed members o f local
unions who organized themselves into
the Fair Jobs Committee sponsored
the protests. They targeted Brown
and Root. Inc., o f Houston. Texas,
and Daniel International C orp., of
Greenville, South Carolina. Both
companies have contracted with A t
lantic Richfield Company to build
Alaska oil drilling site modules and
other equipment. The contracts are
worth between $30 and $40 million.
Brown and Root has hired bet wen 3<X)
and 400 workers and Daniel Interna
tional plans to hire 700.
The Fair Jobs Committee contends
that the two companies are taking
advantage o f Portland's poor eco
nomic situation to pay wages that are
about 40 percent below union scale,
coupled with drastically reduced bene
fits.
Committee members allege that
many o f the cars in the companies’
parking lots have out-of-state plates.
Workers from other states are taking
jobs and tax money away from Ore
gon, they say.
“ It ’s our livelihood, they’re taking
our jobs," said Richard Crabtree, an
unemployed steamfittcr and chair
person o f the committee.
Crabtree said the unionists’ work
is seasonal. “ I f we work nine months,
then we've got to make enough to
last all year," he said. " I f they cut us
40 percent, then we can't live."
The Fair Jobs Committee includes
unemployed
union
ironworkers,
steamfitters,
electricians,
welders,
laborers, painters and others. Some
have seen only about five months’
work in the last five years, according
to Crabtree. Committee members
have lost cars, houses, even wives and
families to economic hard times,"
he said.
The situation could end with Ore
gon becoming a right to work stale,
like southern states and now Idaho,
said Crabtree. “ W hy else would they
come in here and do all this work non
union when they do it union elsewhere
up and down the coast?," he added
Both companies and the Oregon
chapter of the Associated General Con
tractors have defended the companies’
right to conduct their business as open
shop contractors. The companies say
also that they are hiring 90 percent
of their employees from the local
area.
Crabtree said the Fair Jobs Com
mittee has picketed A R C O stations
around Portland. They wanted to
have a parade with cars, he said, but
their permit was turned down. He
said individuals would continue to
picket on Swan Island.
"W e wanted to get their attention
and we d id ." he said. “ W e'll follow it
up with something or other, maybe
not so spectacular."
42 lawsuits filed to reach top
by Lam ia Duke
G R A S S R O O T N EW S, N .W . — A
commitment to one’s culture and the
strength acquired when standing up
for fairness is the foundation for suc
cess, according to four women in a
political forum at the sixth annual
International W om en’s Day Festival.
Penny Harrington, Chief o f Police;
Patricia Ray, Federal Labor Con
tract Specialist; Iris Bell, Forest Serv
ice Program Manager, and Lina Sea
bold, M B E Specialist for Tri-M et,
shared with a 50-person audience their
insight and experiences relating to
their career climbs.
Harrington, the first woman Police
Chief in a major metropolitan area,
said she chose police work as a ca
reer because o f the challenge o f the
profession. But she found it equally
challenging breaking down promo
tional barriers which discriminated
against women.
“ When I started at the police force,
a woman had to have a college degree
while a man had to have a G .E .D .
Women were allowed to work in
only one department and we could
not lake the promotional exam,”
she said.
Her biggest barrier was the con
straints incorporated in die dvil service
system. At one time the weight and
height requirement excluded all wo
men. “ When I finally took a pro
motional exam, the civil service board
asked me very personal questions
and inquired what my husband thought
o f my job and promotion. That is
when I became angry,” she added
Harrington said she filed 42 com
plaints o f sexual discrimination against
the Portland Police. The stress from
this challenge caused her to take a
leave of absence. "But I never regretted
any o f it. I have a hell o f a lot o f re
spect and empathy for minorities
now. I understand how they feel and I
plan to bring this understanding to
the departm ent," Harrington con
cluded.
V
As an M B E specialist for T ri-M et,
Seabold said her position afforded her
the power and influence to increase
the number o f women and people of
color in non-traditional careers. Bell
said her pace for success was set from
her expeiences as a student in the
dvil rights movement. " I learned to
maintain my integrity. When I go
out and fight I know what I ’m talking
about, because I ’m prepared."
Ray’s responsibility is to enforce
federal Equal Opportunity and A f
firmative Action statutes. "W hen I go
out and visit companies, I understand
all too clearly that we need these
laws,” Ray added.
All participants agreed that (he ex
isting d vil rights laws were adequate
to mount an offensive against any
type o f (liscrimination — sex, race or
sexual preference. “ I t ’s not easy, but
it’s worth it. There will never be an
other season o f silence,” Harrington
noted.
G RASSR O O T N EW S, N .W . —
Disaster struck Harriet Tubman M id
dle School in threes earlier this week
as a two-alarm arson fire Sunday
afternoon devastated a new wing of
the renovated building still under con
struction at 2231 N. Flint.
At 12:50 the next day, a rumor
started that a bomb was placed on
campus at Tubm an’s current site and
the school was promptly evacuated.
At 2:50 an arsonist struck again and a
curtain in ihe school’s auditorium was
ablaze, and the school’s stereo sys
tem was destroyed. Damage is esti
mated at $1,400. Currently, a 14-year-
old student has been arrested for set
ting the curtain fire.
Herman Washington, Tubm an’s
principal, said things are now begin
ning to settle. “ We will still open
our new site in time for the new school
year Instead o f construction being
completed in the first week o f June, it
will be completed in the first week of
July."
Ironically, a sprinkler system was
scheduled for installation this week.
“ A sprinkler system would have
slopped Sunday's fire," said Donald
Mayer, Fire Bureau’s Public Info r
mation Officer.
Mayer estimated the damage at
$2(X),(XX) “ We can tell how it was
started, but we cannot say who or
whom. Sometimes investigations can
drag on for years or a couple of
weeks."
Washington said the site had been
vandalized before and prior to the fire
on Sunday paint cans had been over
turned and fiberboard broken. " I
can’t see any reason for it,” added
Washington.
Matt Lockett, Chief o f Police for
the Portland Public School, said a
student rumor mill created the bomb
scare on Monday. "Kids told then
teacher that a ’guy’ outside had placed
a bomb in the school and it was to go
o ff at 1:00. But our officers investi
gated and found it was a situation
of he said/she said."
Harriet Tubman Middle School is
the inner city's only middle school due
to the unbalance created by the schixil
district's
previous
administration
who systematically eliminated upper
grades from grade schools located in
the Black community.
The new wing of Tubman Middle School suffered severe damage in
Sunday's arson set fire.
(Photo: Richard J. Brown)
2-parent welfare rule opposed
"Oregon’s public assistance laws
currently force unemployed families
to split up in order to meet life’s ne
cessities," says Rev. Gary Vaughan
Rev. Vaughan is the director o f the
Burnside area’s Operation Night-
watch ministry and the Sunnyside
United Methodist Church’s emergen
cy family shelter in Portland. “ Every
week 1 see husbands and wives who
are living on the streets or in emergen
cy shelters with their children rather
than separate as a family to allow one
parent to obtain aid for the children,”
states Vaughan.
On Tuesday, March 12, the Oregon
Senate Human Resources Committee
held a hearing on SB 350 which pro
vides for reinstatement o f public as
sistance for 2 parent unemployed
families. Rev Vaughan and other
representatives of the (oalition to Keep
Oregon Families Together testified at
the proceeding in support o f SB 350.
Aid to Dependent Children (A D C )
is a joint federal-state welfare pro
gram which provides living expenses
and medical care for very poor fam
ilies on the basis o f needs. States may
provide public assistance for single-
parent households only, or for 2-
parent unemployed families ( A IX -
U N ) and single parent households Be
fore 1979 Oregon participated in both
programs, but in that year Oregon
discontinued funding for public as
sistance for 2-parent unemployed
families. Despite cuts in federal pro
grams, the federal government has
maintained matching funds for public-
assistance for 2-parent unemployed
families as part of the federal safety
net
Twenty-three states and the District
of Columbia now receive federal
matching funds to partiepate in the
A IX .-U N program. After terminating
its program in 1981 and experiencing
the devastating results on families,
the state of Washington reinstated its
program in 1983.
"W ith the federal government
paying an increased 61.54 percent of
the program costs (previously 58®/o),
we estimate Oregon’s costs to be
$18.75 million for the biennium in
general funds with a federal match of
$28.5 million,” reports Doug Rogers,
Director of Snow -CAP emergency
services in Portland and chairperson
of the Coalition to Keep Oregon Fam
ilies Together Rogers notes that ap
plying a conservative economic m ul
tiplier of 2, the federal infusion would
represent an additional $57 million to
the stale’s economy. “ Behond the
positive economic impact, the restor
ation of Oregon’s A D C -U N program
will lighten the tremendous burden on
families experiencing extreme finan
cial difficulties," says Rogers
League of W om en Voters
sponsors school board forum
The League of Women Voters will
sponsor a candidates forum for the
upcoming School Board election on
Tuesday, March 19, 1985, 7 00 p.m .,
at Cleveland High School.
There are 17 candidates for the Nos.
I, 2 and 3 positions All 17 candidates
have been asked to take part in the
forum. Each candidate will be given an
opportunity for a brief opening state
ment. Once all the statements are
presented, a question and answer pe
riod will follow.
Further information may be had by
calling the League office. 228-1675.
Anti sales tax forcaa held a pancake breakfast fundraiser on Sunday.
Addressing the crowd are (l-r) John Raher. Senator Ed Fedley. Ruaa
Farrell. Senator Jan Wyers. Representative Dave McTeegue. Senator
Dick Springer and Bart Dehner.
(Photo Richard J Brown)
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