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Committed to cultural diversity, http: \vvv\\ .portlandobserver.net
Volume X X V II, Number 68
Trailblazer's Make A
difference For "Mother's
Against Gang Violence ".
See Metro, inside.
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« *•
A pril 22; 1998
p d # 0* * * /
Singer, Songwriter,
Actress Tamia,
making her way.
Trailblazer Hero's
/r*
BULK RATE
I.I.S. POSTAGE
Her talents seem to be
putting a "move a on
everyone's heart".
See Entertainment, page B2.
See Popeye's
Coupon's
Inside!
PAID
PORTLAND, OR
PERMIT NO. 1610
(Elfe JJortlatii* (0 U
MMM
Portland Raises Living Wage Rate For City Contractors ’ Employees
B y N eil H eilpern
inimum wage doesn’t cut it for
companies doing business with
Portland city hall, which has
just upped the ante for its “living wage"
requirements.
Commissioners unanimously agreed last
Wednesday to raise the minimum pay which
contractors m ust pay workers on city projects
—from $7.00 per hour to $7.50, with another
raise to $8.00 after July 1, 1999.
Representatives o f The Living Wage
Campaign, a coalition of 35 labor, commu­
nity and religious groups, applauded the
action as a step in the right direction, but told
the council there are some issues which still
need to be addressed.
“We want them to expand the ordinance
M
Botha Angry Over Trial
Postponement
Former President P.W. Botha angrily
denounced the postponement of his trial
saying it denied him a chance to respond to
allegations that he authorized the killings
o f black activists. The trial was postponed
to June 1 to give prosecutors time to collect
and deliver documents to defense lawyers
that indicate a council Botha headed ap­
proved the slayings and torture o f
blacks.Botha and his lawyers objected to
.he delay.Botha, 82, could be imprisoned
for two years and fined an unspecified
amount if convicted ofcontempt for ignpr-
ing a subpoena to appear before South
Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation com­
mission, which is investigating apartheid-
era atrocities.
Clinton Marks Bombing
Anniversary
President Clinton observed the third
anniversary of the bombing o f the federal
building in Oklahoma City by saluting the
“courage and resilience” o f the city and its
inhabitants. “ Once again, our thoughts are
with the families o f the 168 people whose
lives were tragically lost,” Clinton said in
a written statement from Santiago, where
he was attending a Western Hemisphere
summit. “Three years ago, the people of
Oklahoma City suffered the worst act of
terrorism in our country’s history,” Clinton
said. “It was an attack not just on the
people, a city, a state, a nation, but on what
we stand for, how we govern ourselves and
the values we live by. The courage and the
resilience of Oklahoma City has shown us
the full meaning o f community.”
Pol Pot forced to take
poison, royalist general
says BANGKOK
Cambodia’s top royalist military copi-
mander said that former Khmer Rouge
leader Pol Pot had been forced to take
poison to prevent his being brought before
an international tribunal where he might
have implicated other Khmer Rouge fig­
ures for involvement in crimes against
humanity. ’ ’The Khmer Rouge told me 10
days before Pol Pot’s death that they would
give him this poison. 1 knew before that he
would die,” Nhiek Bun Chhay, who is
believed to have good contacts with the
Khmer Rouge, told Kyodo News by
telephone.Pol Pot, who was responsible
for the deaths o f as many as two million
people during his 1975-1979 reign.
Many People Can’t
Recognize Stroke
Many Americans don’t recognize the
signs of a stroke in time to get themselves or
others potentially lifesaving treatment now
available to thwart America’s third-leading
killer, a new survey found. The only ap­
proved stroke-fighting drug must be given
within three hours after a stroke starts. But
only 57 percent o f respondents in the sur­
vey - to be published in Journal o f the
American Medical Association - knew even
one warning sign o f stroke, the researchers
said. The warning signs o f a stroke are a
sudden severe headache; unexplained diz­
ziness, unsteadiness ora fall; loss of vision,
especially in one eye; difficulty speaking or
comprehending; and numbness on one side
o f the body.
Paul McCartney Pays
Tribute to Wife
Paul M cC artney paid eloquent trib ­
ute to his late w ife, Linda, detailing
her final m om ents before she suc­
cum bed to breast cancer and vowing
that she “was, and still is, the love o f
my life.” M cC artney also released six
pictures o f his 56-year-old wife taken
by th eir dau g h ter Mary in the days
before her death .
“We are all one society
which needs to lift families
out o f poverty. ”
to include more businesses which get sub­
stantial economic assistance from the city,
such as tax abatements, grants and loans,”
said Jamie Partridge, living wage campaign
chair and member of the National Associa­
tion of LetterCarriers. “We think they should
all be included in the living wage ordi­
nance.”
Jean Eilers, of the AFL-CIO, told com­
missioners the ordinance needed union
friendly language that would confirm that
“workers have a say in establishing their
living standards.”
Leslie Kochan, of the Coalition for a
Livable Future, urged the council to include
an “opt-out” o f the ordinance if covered
employees negotiate different terms through
a union contract.
She also said that w hen the city
changes contractors, it should require
the new contractor to retain w orkers
em ployed by the form er contractor for
a m inim um o f 90 days if the contract is
for the sam e work.
Kochan also called for annual inflation
The Living Wage Campaign, a coalition o f 35 labor, rallied outside Portland City
Hall 4 /1 5 /9 8 before council voted on wage hike for contractors' employees.
adjustments to be written into the living wage
ordinance and addition o f provisions for sick
leave and uncompensated days off.
C om m issioner Erik Sten noted the
‘boom ing city econom y w hich also
brings higher prices and m akes it hard
for the w orking poor to afford it h ere.”
He called for a resolution o f health care
questions.
M adelyn W essel, deputy city attor-
Garlington Center Seeks Community
Recognition and Support
Dear Community Partner:
arlington C enter needs your
help! This agency has served
the people o f N orth/N orth-
east Portland for the past 18
providing quality services that have
expanded over the years to m eet the
co m m u n ity ’s em erging needs. Our
ability to continue providing those
varied and integrated services, in fact
our very existence is being seriously
threatened.
W e the B oard o f D ire c to rs o f the
G a rlin g to n C en ter are sh o ck e d and
d ism ay ed by the d e c isio n s re g a rd ­
ing fu n d in g that re c e n tly have been
m ade by the C ounty and the S tate
that put this o rg a n iz a tio n and the
co m m u n ity it serv es in je o p a rd y .
This B oard and the c u rre n t a d m in is ­
tratio n have been re sp o n sib le, fo rth ­
co m in g and c o m p e te n t an d h av e
acted w ith in te g rity th ro u g h o u t the
d iffic u lt and try in g o rd e al o f the
last several m onths that has involved
unexpected financial d iffic u ltie s and
sig n ific a n t s ta f f tu rn o v e r. We have
m ade ev ery e ffo rt to d ev e lo p re a lis ­
tic s tra te g ie s for the c o n tin u in g s ta ­
b iliz a tio n o f our agency.
We have been d ilig e n t in w orking
to m aintain and im prove the array o f
serv ices with w hich we serve the
N o rth /N o rth e ast P o rtlan d co m m u ­
nity.
And we have responded co o p era­
tively and in good faith to both the
suggestions and dem ands that C ounty
and State officials have placed on our
organization.
T h e c u r r e n t d i f f i c u l t i e s th a t
G
years by
Garlington Center
G arlin g to n C en ter face w ere e x a c e r­
bated to a great e x ten t by a nu m b er o f
s ta ff resig n a tio n s. T hat situ atio n has
been resolved. P ro d u c tiv ity has in ­
creased beyond p re v io u s lev els. S ta ff
are settled , co n ten t and w o rk in g c o o p ­
e ra tiv e ly to ensure the co n tin u in g p ro ­
vision o f high q u ality se rv ic e s, as you
are w elcom e to see for y o u rs e lf any
tim e you wish to v isit o u r fa cilities.
A nd yet, the C o u n ty 's re sp o n se to
all o f o u r e ffo rts has b een to trea t us
as th o u g h we h av e b een a d ju d g e d
(Photo M. Washington)
g u ilty o f fraud and m a lfe a sa n c e , the
sen ten c e for w hich has been the d e ­
nial o f m uch n eed ed su p p o rt and
fu nds as w ell as im p airm en t o f o u r
stra te g ie s to s ta b iliz e o u r s e rv ic e s in
a ch an g in g and c h a lle n g in g health
care en v iro n m e n t.
As is w ell kn o w n , th is ch a n g in g
en v iro n m e n t has had a d e le te rio u s
fin an cial im pact on co m m u n ity m en ­
tal h ealth ce n te rs th ro u g h o u t O regon
as w ell as the e n tire n atio n .
C ontinued T o P age B8
ney, replied that com plex state and
federal m andates have created co n fu ­
sion about perm issible union-friendly
language, possible requirem ents for
c o n tra cto rs’ w orker health care p ack­
ages and issues p ertaining to tem po­
rary em ployees from agencies.
She also noted that last year’s Oregon
legislative session allows qualitative fac­
tors in bidding processes, rather than reli­
ance only on a low-bid process which keeps
wages low.
Stating that he favored union-friendly
language, Commissioner Jim Francesconi
said, “putting language into the ordinance
that we can’t enforce is another barrier we
have to work through.”
“Let’s take a moment to celebrate the
higher wages which will help us attract
higher quality contractors, with less turn­
over and additional costs to the city,” he
added. Mayor Vera Katz promised an on­
going dialogue and study o f the issues for
possible additional amendments in the fu­
ture.
When Katz asked about the ordinance’s
effect on minority and women-owned busi­
nesses, Wessell said these groups were
“more vulnerable, struggling to keep their
heads above water.”
“It is more critical for these companies
that do work for more than just the city,”
she added, “especially if they don’t get
enough revenue from the city” to justify the
higher wage.
“N umerous people o f color have told me
it is worth pursuing,” said Francesconi.
Jam es P osey, from the C o alitio n
o f B lack M en, te stifie d th at “ m in o r­
ity c o n tra c to rs are put in betw een a
rock and a hard p la c e ,” try in g to co m ­
pete w ith larg e r esta b lish e d co m p a­
nies.
During a short rally outside city hall
prior to the hearing, Cecil Prescod of the
New Party, said janitors, parking lot atten­
dants and others need the living wage.
“ We are all one society which needs
to lift fam ilies out o f po v erty ."
Volunteers Of
America Gives
Children an
Equal Start
Have you been worried about what the
world is going to look like in the future? Are
you concerned about the young hands that
will be shaping that world? Through Volun­
teers o f America, you have the chance to
affect how well today’s children will be able
to handle the responsibility.
Voiunteers o f America is helping children
get a good start in life during their early
preschool years through two different pro­
grams.
At Common Bond, children and their par­
ents attend weekly playgroups where chil­
dren learn social and learning skills while
parents receive valuable parenting informa­
tion.
The Family Nursery provides a daycare
where children participate in self-esteem
building activities. Adults often work one-
on-one with a child to help them improve any
behavioral or learning difficulties, while par­
ents receive some free time to relax and take
care of themselves.
Research indicates that by the time a child
reaches kindergarten, that child may have
already encountered many obstacles to aca­
demic and personal success.
The Fam ily N ursery and C om m on
Bond are w orking to ensure that those
obstacles are rem oved, and you can help.
Both program s focus on the child and
parent, and work to im prove fam ily re ­
lationships so that children are free to
learn and grow.
You can change the future! If you would
like to help Volunteers of America make a
difference in a child’s life, contact Stephanie
at (503) 288-6996.
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