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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 2, 1991)
PORTLfl Volume XXI, Number 1 25<P January 2,1991 "The Eyes and Ears o f The Community" Follow Your Money: Union Member's Advice BY JAMIE PARTRIDGE AND DONNA HAMMOND A News The New Year! How New Is It by McKinley Burt PAGE 2 Religion Working as A Team by Mattie Ann Callier-Sperars PAGE 3 s \ World War II ended, thousands if Portland blacks were thrown out of their jobs at the shipyards. Tom Carr, who had worked with a union card as an electrician’s helper, learned that his blue card was no longer valid. Only white union cards were valid (held by white craftsmen), according to Carr. By 1959, after years of bouncing around as cannery worker and poultry worker, to railroad cook and track layer, Tom Carr landed another union job in the shipyards. The only construction union in 1959 which would accept African Americans-the laborers Union, local 296. UNION WAGES AND BENEFITS “ I joined for the money,” says Carr. Now, at age 68, Tom Carr is six years into a good union retirement pension after 31 years as a member of local 296. Working in ship repair and in construction, Carr enjoyed wages and benefits worth 2 to 3 times that of a non union laborer. ‘‘Medical, dental, vi sion, we have it all, plus job security. The employer has to accept you if you are sent out by the union dispatcher. And you can’t be fired without a good reason. If you’re harassed, the union backs you up. that’s why I stuck with it,” says Carr. Laborer’s work is not easy work. Its cleaning and picking up after other craftsmen, such as electricians, carpen ters, sheetmetal workers,boilermakers, or pipefitters. Its dirty, dangerous and Tom Carr - Retiree Laborer 296 Percy Hampton-Laborer Local 296 Mrs. Monica Beasley waiting for a dispatch from Willie Hart back-breaking work. In construction, its all-weather work. 30-40% of Laborers local 296 is Black. It’s the type of work where Afri can American males have traditionally been allowed. But its union. Being a member of local 296 is the difference between making five dollars per hour end making fifteen, according to their current president of the union, Willy Hart. Hart would know. Before joining local 296, he worked non-union con struction, non-union bricklaying, and as a trucker, warehouseman, herdsman, cannery worker, and ‘‘everything in between’ ’. Leaving school at grade 10, Hart bounced from job to job until set tling in with local 296 in 1973.” ‘‘Pay your dues and follow your money is what my brother-in-law told me. He was president of the union at the time. Now I’m in his position.” According to Hart, he is the third black President of the local, since the first Black officers were elected in the ’60s. BLACKS EXCLUDED BEFORE 1946 African Americans didn’t always hold positions o f authority in the La borers Local. 296- was a “ Jim Crow” local until 1946, says Hart. Only in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s, with momentum of the civil rights movement, did significant numbers of Blacks become members. Percy Hampton remembers that his father was not allowed to join. The older Hampton had to join another con struction local (320) in Klamath Falls and travelled from Portland every month to pay his union dues. Other Blacks joined a union local in Vancouver, Wash ington in order to work as ‘ ‘casuals” in the Portland Kaiser shipyards. Percy Hampton was familiar with laborer work. So when the younger Hampton dropped out of college, and got frustrated with hopping from mini mum wage job to minimum wage job, he settled into local 296 in 1974. Now sixteen years later, having worked both in the shipyards and in construction, PLEASE SEE FOLLOW ON PAGE 4 Food Stamp Benefits Increase M Business Profiles Lonnie Jenkins PAGE 4 News Worldwide End to Polio Possible By the 21st Century any Oregonians facing poverty their utility costs are likely to increase will receive more food stamps because of the winter cold. In addition to beginning in January as the result utility of the costs, food stamp benefits are based higher cost of home heating brought by on household income, number of persons cold winter weather. The increase is in in the household and living expenses. the range o f two to three dollars worth of The increase will only come to house stamps. holds not receiving the maximum food Food stamp recipients may use ei stamp benefits. They may get an increase ther the standard allowance or their ac of several dollars per month with the new tual utility costs if they are higher than Standard Utility Allowance. Those house the Standard Utility Allowance when holds currently receiving maximum food applying for food stamps. In cither case, stamp benefits will not get an increase Play it “Till 1951 PAGE 5 TER! ’ ’ Well, you know whose fault that is don’t you? Federick McKinley Jones on’t be alarmed, I now what News is responsible. He is the black mechani The Tax Form You've year it is. It’s just that the ad cal genius who invented and patented modem version of the REFRIFER- vent of 1991 brings to mind that the quote Been Waiting For from a jazz classic at the top of the ‘black ATED BOX CAR (No. 2,780.923; Feb PAGE 5 charts’ circa 1941, “ Boogie Woogie on ruary 12, 1957, and No. 2,696,086, Dec. the St. Louis Blues.” [Earl (Fatha’) Hines], 7, 1954. And he contributed to Califor News Think that’s corny? I wouldn’t ad nia’s grief by inventing the modem vise a lot of you to tell your grandparents REFRIG ERA TED TRUCK (No. Free Vision Exams that. Probably, they were actin’ up in 2,475,841; July 12, 1949). Available Good Lord! How could he do such 1941, the jitterbug, slowgrind, fox trot, PAGE 6 M whatever. These ‘dances’ have succumbed a thing? Go and create a hundred billion to a violent metamorphosis, parallel to dollar economic infrastructure in the states the development of similar gyrations in of California and Florida-from citrus fruits the socioeconomic sphere, so, if in fact, to avocados and from lettuce to toma- their grandchildren are now “ acting” , tocs-all this wealth made possible by his just what , exactly is ‘new’ about the advanced technology. This African current scene...about 1991? “ The more American, self taught engineer and drafts things change, the more they stay the man also gave America more than 60 other fruits of his incredibly fertile mind. , it has been said. News 2 same” It is a matter of ‘perspective’, isn’t These ranged from the first portable x- Religion 3 it? Your viewpoint-quite often it hangs ray machine to the two-cycle gas engine Business Profile 4 upon something as simple as whether we are all familiar with in our power News 5 you are an optimist or a cynic. In lieu of mowers, and the automatic ticket dis News 6 having developed any better approach to pensing machine encountered at our mov other public events. Classifieds 7 the ‘New Year’, I have settled for one ies and Oh, but in death he has paid dearly very simple resolution; go for a “ PER Bids/Sub Bids 8 SONAL BEST” , as described in my for bringing Californians to the brink of ‘Perspectives’ column this week. I have economic disaster (by making their n ’t the slightest doubt but what I (and this empires possible). In my book, “ Black newspaper as well) will achieve this goal. Inventor’s of America” , I have assembled Getting right on the establishment’s case- some pertinent background information- His and Hers talks about and with Black History Monthapproach- but, it wasn’t easy, for surely this man Jealousy. ing-lct me give the ‘WEATHER RE has been punished, there being so little PORT’ in my usual informative and some of honor and memory to be found. Portland Women Wins For instance, when I first started re time satirical manner. Nationwide Mature Model “ MAJOR FROST HITS CALIFOR searching Jones’s background, I wrote search. NIA CITRUS CROP: GROWERS both the American Refrigeration Soci FACED WITH FINANCIAL DISAS- ety and The American Air Conditioning BY PROFESSOR MCKINLEY BURT D INDEX Wexf Week with the move to a higher allowance. Adult and Family Services, a divi sion of the Department of Human re sources. The stamps are distributed by Adultand Family Services and by Senior and Disabled Services. Together, these agencies provide food stamps to some 90,000Oregon households,representing 209,000 citizens. The program is a key financial ingredient in the household budgets of Oregon’s working poor as well as those who cannot work. »» Society (both with new York addresses in 1968). Informed that the two technical societies had merged, but had no evi dence that such a man ever existed, I, nevertheless, kept up a barrage of que ries for over a year before getting any result. “ Dear Mr. Burt, we are afraid that you are going to be terribly disappointed, but the enclosed document is all that we could find on the party in question.” Enclosed I found a photostat o f his membership card. It was stamped,’’DIED 1957, OWED MEMBERSHIP DUES OF $25.” So much for our black American genius who gave the world so much-but, is there anything “ new” here? Will some of us still wonder why the detrac tors of the ‘Baseline Essays’ scream “ It’s all fiction, it never happened.” What T’ wonder is how it is that so many of our well-heeled black leaders and organizations plead for respect and recognition from the nation-and for in spired efforts to motivate our children to educational cxcellencc-but it was the establishment General Electric Company which is 1988 contributed $25,000 to save the birthplace of Lewis Howard Latimer, the pioneer black electrical inventor who patented the filament which MADE EDISON’S LIGHT BULB POSSIBLE! Like I say , what’s “ new” ? “ The more things change the more they stay the same.” A ‘school kids’project or a large ‘black church benefit’ could have done the same thing. Portland Music Association Kicks Off the New Year T he Portland Music Association kicks off the New Year Tues day, January 8th, 1991 with a hot line-up for the PMA New Talent Showcase. The showcase is held the 2nd Tues day of each month following the PMA General meeting at Key Largo. $3.00 admission. 8 P .M .- 1:30 A.M. Featured Bands: Bad Mothers-Original rock/pop band featuring all women musicians featuring clever, irreverent girl-bop tunes. Ralph Archenhold Band-A crack team of seasoned professionals backing a talented songwriter and lovable enter tainer. A delightful blending of folk, rock, country, and swing. Red Over White-A musical breath of fresh Northwest talent combines rock, blues, gospel, funk, and country into a concise package creating a sound that is uniquely their own. Shaded Gray-A rock band from Vancouver playing their own original compositions as well as a variety of songs ranging from Richard Marx to Pink Floyd to Chuck Berry. The Movement Still Continues “Legacy to Martin Luther King Jr.” PSU January 19, 1991 Lecturer: Norman Hill, National President APRI HMO Medicare Option Offers Seniors Quality Care Security M edicare. For many people, the word brings to mind reams of paperwork, confusion and fears of rising premiums and a loss of security. Many seniors have turned to Medicare Supple ment plans, but were faced with higher costs and inconsistent coverage. But seniors can reduce the hassles and stress of dealing with Medicare with a Medi care plan from a Health Maintenance Organization. The good Health Plan Medicare Option from Sisters of Providence is a prepaid health care plan for Medicare beneficiaries. It adds coverage and sta bility to Medicare benefits and provides a stable source of high quality care, this program recently lowered its monthly premium to $34,50-prcmium that is lower than most supplemental insurance and covers much more. The monthly pre mium for a typical supplemental insur ance policy can range from $40 to $ 120, depending on the type of plan. The enrollment period for the good Health P!an Medicare Option plan is open all year, unlike many programs that have limited time period for enrollment. Those interested in coverage from the good Health Plan Medicare Option ef fective February 1, 199! must enroll by January 5,1991, Good Health Plan members assign their Medicare benefits to the Plan and receive health care services from the Good Health Plan. In return, the Good Health Plan manages the individual’s health care program and handles all the paperwork involved in claims process ing. One of the primary differences be tween the Good Health Plan Medicare Option and a supplemental insurance is that the Good Health Plan has no deduct ible and can have a substantially lower monthly premium. For example, fora patient who visits their physician once a month and has one inpatient surgery in a year, the out-of- pocket cost the good Health Plan medi care Option is $534.00. A typical supple mental insurance policy could cost the patient as much as $2,200.00 for the same services. The Good Health Plan Medicare Option is sponsored by the Sisters of Providence health system in Oregon. The Good Health Plan provides comprehen sive and convenient health care from more than 1,000 private-practice physi cians and six regional hospitals. Patients may choose their own physician from the Plans’s 250 Primary Care Physi cians, a feature that may not be available through other HMO Medicare plans. Services covered through the good Health Plan Medicare Option include: routine office visits and physical exams, hospital care, emergency and urgent care anywhere in the world, eye exams and eye glasses, laboratory and x-ray serv ices, ambulance, medical equipment and supplies, physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy, skilled nurs ing facility and home health care, outpa tient mental health visits and nutritional services. Co-payments are required for some of these services. Two major medical centers serve Good Health Plan Medicare Option members: St. Vincent Hospital and medical Center on the west side of Port land and Providence Medical Center on the city’s east side. Providence Milwaukie Hospital, Newberg Community Hospi tal, Tuality Community Hospital and Forest Grove Community Hospital are available for plan members who live in those communities. The Sisters Of Providence is one of the ten largest health care systems in the United States. In Portland, it includes St. Vincent Hospital & Medical Center, Ore gon’s first hospital, and Providence Medical Center. Since Mother Joseph and four other young Sisters of Provi dence arrived at Fort Vancouver in 1956, they have carried out their mission of teaching, caring for the sick and helping the poor.