January 26, 1989 • P ortland O b s e rv e r -P a g e 5
4 Legislative Agenda For 1989
This is a very important year tor
our organization, the A. Philip Ran­
dolph Institute. 1989 is the 1OOth
Birthday Year of the Institute's nam e­
sake and founder, A. Philip Randolph,
America's greatest Black labor leader
and an outstanding civil rights leader
as well.
Randolph believed that Blacks and
thetradeu nion movement are natural
allies in the struggle for economic and
social justice. To advance that
struggle, he established the Institute—
an organization of Black labor
activists-to serve as a bridge between
the Black com m unity and organized
labor.
This year we at the Institute feel
especially called upon to pursue the
Black-labor agenda for three reasons:
first, because it is Randolph's centen­
nial: second, because we need to
make up for lost time, since during the
past eight years the W hite House has
opposed, with all-too-much success,
most aspects of the Black-labor
agenda; and third, because our hopes
have been raised somewhat by the
incoming President, who has prom ­
ised a “ kinder and gentler nation,"
has met with Black leaders, and has
told his personnel recruiters that he
wants to appoint significant numbers
of minorities to posts in his Adm ini­
stration.
So as George Bush enters the
W hite House, we will begin our year’s
work by presenting a Black-labor
legislative agenda that we think de­
serves the support of the new Presi­
dent and the new, 101st Congress.
W e urge the passage of four im­
portant health- and family-related bills
that were derailed in the 100th Con­
gress. One requires that all em ploy­
ers provide minimum health care
benefits to their employees. Another
guarantees working parents the right
to unpaid, job-protected leave to deal
with personal or family medical prob­
lems, including the birth of a child. A
third piece of legislation provides
funding for the development of child
care centers, subsidizes child care
for low-income working families, and
sets standards of quality for child
care facilities and personnel. The fourth
measure, known as the high-risk
notification bill, establishes a program
for identifying, notifying, and facilitat­
ing treatm ent for workers w ho have
been exposed to hazardous sub­
stances in the workplace. In addition,
we back a new bill being introduced
for the first tim e in the 101st Con­
gress that toughens the Occupational
Safety and Health Act’s workplace
health and safety rules.
We also support a group of bills
that protect w orkers' employm ent
security and standard of living. These,
too, were introduced but not passed
in the last Congress, in som e cases
because of a Reagan veto or a filibus­
ter. Passage of a minim um wage
increase from its current $3.35 level
is an essential part of the fight to
assure workers a decent wage. W e
also favor legislation to prevent con­
struction firm s from avoiding collec­
tive bargaining agreements by set­
ting up non-union alter egos, a prac­
tice known as double-breasting. Fi­
nally, a textile and apparel trade bill
would slow down the deluge of textile,
apparel, and footw ear imports made
with exploited, low-wage labor.
Another worthy legislative meas­
ure left over from the 100th Congress
is Hatch Act reform to restore the
political rights of federal and postal
employees, w ho are currently barred
from engaging in political activity.
Fortunately, som e of the important
legislation in the civil rights area can
be removed from the 1989 agenda
because of the excellent work of the
100th Congress in attacking discrim i­
nation. The Civil Rights Restoration
Act, passed over President Reagan’s
veto, overrode the Suprem e C ourt’s
Grove C«ty decision and strength­
ened the prohibition on federal fund­
ing of discrim ination against minori­
ties, women, the disabled, and the
elderly. The Fair Housing Am end­
ments Act of 1988 strengthened the
enforcem ent mechanism of the Fair
Housing Act. Still on the civil rights
agenda, however, is voter registra­
tion reform, to make the right to vote
more accessible, and legislation to
Lewis & Clark College Celebrates Black History Month
eliminate racial discrim ination in thè
application of thè death penalty.
Philip Randolph, former President,
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car
Porters.
Finally, the Institute’s agenda also
includes opposition to legislation that
has already been considered by
Congress and which may resurface
there this year. Among these unde­
sirable proposals are constitutional
amendments requiring a balanced
budget and giving the President a line
item veto, a bill for widespread man­
datory drug testing of em ployees in
the transportation industry, and a
proposal that would weaken the col­
lective bargaining guarantees fortran-
sit employees in the 1964 Urban Mass
Transportation Act.
W e at the Randolph Institute start
the New Year with the optimistic
expectation that the new Adm inistra­
tion will be more favorably disposed
toward a program for economic and
social justice than the outgoing one.
But the W hite H o use-and the Con­
gress as w e ll-c a n be sure that we
and our allies will be watching them
carefully to make sure that the Black-
labor agenda moves forward in 1989.
It’s Tim e For the 6th
Annual W orld Services
Carnival
Date: Friday & Saturday, Feb. 3rd
& 4th. - Time: Friday, 6:00-8:30 p.m.
and Saturday, 10:00 a.m .-3:00 p .m .-
Place: The Salvation Army, Moore
St. Com m unity Center Gym, 5335 N.
W illiams Ave., Portland, OR 97217 -
Cost: Tickets are 4 for $1.00 if you
buy them early. The night of the car­
nival they w ill be 3 for $1.00 or 35
cents each.
February
M onday
Tuesday
0 tw Ackly and
Kukrudu
A musical journey blend­
ing traditional Ghanaian
and western sounds, in­
cluding funk, reggae,
and jazz fusion
7 p .m , Agnes Flanagan
Chapel
Sojourner Truth
Theatre Company
First of three perfor­
mances designed to en­
tertain and to improve
communication between
races Under the direc­
tion of Nyewusi Askar i
and Ruby Reuben, the
audience gets a histori­
cal review of black lan­
guage and culture and a
chance to participate in
role reversals
6 15 p.m, Agnes Flana­
gan Chapel
Friday
Saturday
i r t Black Future
I L r Leaders Day
A workshop to help high
school students select
appropriate colleges
Find out from Lewis &
Clark students what col­
lege is really like Co­
sponsored by the Ad­
missions Office Time
and location TBA
Soul Food Dinner
Authentic foods of the
Black culture Free to
students on the meal
plan $5 to others
Offered by Marriott Food
Service
4 45-6 p m Fields Dm
mg Room
Dance
All-campus Black to the
Future Dance features
Master T as the DJ
Open to the public
$2 general admission
$1 with L&C ID
9 p m -1 a m . Stamm
Black Alumni
Reunion Weekend
Cosponsored by the
Lewis & Clark College
Alumm Association
Templeton College
Center
Alumni Welcome,
1 p m Thayer
Black Heritage Trivia,
2:30 p m Thayer
Open Forum on the
Hill, 3 30 p m . Council
Chamber
Reception, 6 30 p m
Dubach
Jazz Performance and
Dance, 8 p m , Stamm
6
7
n
W ednesday
Miles of
Smiles
' A multimedia presenta­
tion by Ellen Jacobs,
Dortraying her mountain
biking adventure
through east-central
Africa
6 30 p m Council
Chamber
Sojourner Truth
Theatre Company
Part 2 of series designed
to help people commu­
nicate with groups from
different cultures
8 p m Agnes Flanagan
Chapel
Black People in White
Minds
Film revealing how white
stereotypes of blacks
Originated and Showing
how to a more accurate
funa of knowledge
9 1 5 p m Council
Chamber
8
1989
Thursday
Sojourner Truth
Theatre Company
Finale performance,
examining what's
unique about Black
language and culture
6 p m , Evans Auditorium
Time Sound
Music to celebrate by—
rhythm and blues, com­
posed and performed by
Blacks
7 30 p m Agnes Flana­
gan Chapel
9
Sunday
1
I
Black Alumni
Reunion Weekend
Gosf>el Extravaganza.
1 0 a m , Chapel
Luncheon, 11 30 a i
Dubach
For more information
about weekend events
phone the Alumni Of­
fice, 293-2768
Black to the Future is
sponsored by Lewis &
Clark Students United
for American Cultural
Awareness (SUACA).
For more information
phone 244-6161
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