Oregon Special Olympics
Needs Volunteers in August
Oregon Workers’
Union Reach Pact
A tentative deal offers state
employees a 4 percent pay raise
and may prevent a strike by
Oregon's largest public union
B y S teve M ayes
O re g o n ’s la rg e st public union
and the state te n tativ ely agreed to
a new c o n tra ct th a t gives union
m em bers m ore m oney and should
av ert a c rip p lin g strike.
T he ag re em e n t, stru ck at 4:15
a m. W ed n esd ay , gives O regon
Public E m ployees U nion m em bers
a 4 p erc en t pay in crease over two
years. T he u nion sou g h t an 8 p e r­
cent increase d u rin g the tw o -y ear
c o n tra ct period.
“ W e b eliev e th is is a very fair
se ttlem en t. W e b eliev e it w ill be
ac c e p te d ” by u n io n m em bers, said
G reg L ed b etter, w ho led the u nion
b arg a in in g team .
U nion leaders w ill m eet S atur­
day to recom m end that m em bers
ratify a contract or vote to go on
strike. The rank and file w ill vote on
the contract in A ugust. The new
contract w ould expire June 30,2001.
T he deal w ith the u nion is im ­
p o rtan t b ecau se it ’s the larg est
union the sta te n eg o tiates w ith,
and the ag re em e n t sets the sta n ­
dard for o th e r co n tracts.
To m eet the u n io n ’s w age d e ­
m ands, the state w ill have to com e
up w ith aro u n d $26 m illio n , said
D an K ennedy, the s ta te 's top p e r­
sonnel officer. H a lf w ill com e from
m oney b u d g eted for pay raises and
h a lf from cu ts m ade by indiv id u al
agen cies, w hich m ay leave som e
v acan cies u n fille d o r cut services.
A key bargaining issue involved
a m onthly stipend paid to state em ­
ployees w ho choose certain low ­
cost health in surance program s.
W orkers have com e to rely on the
paym ent and view ed it as part o f
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T he sta te w an ted to use the
m oney to co v er its h ig h e r in su r­
ance prem iu m s but d ro p p ed that
d em an d . In ste a d , th e in c en tiv e
p ay m en t — $38 a m onth — w ill be
add ed to e m p lo y e e s’ paychecks.
T hat clea re d the w ay for a deal,
L ed b e tte r said.
A m ong the o th er key p o in ts in
the p ro p o sed co n tra ct, w h ich c o v ­
ers ab o u t 15,000 u n io n m em bers:
• W ag es w ill in crease 2 p ercent
O ct. 1 an d ag ain Jan. 1 ,2 0 0 1 . The
u nion w an ted 2 p ercen t increases
ev ery six m onths.
• T he state w ill pay the full cost
o f h ea lth care in su ran ce for em ­
p lo y e es and th e ir fam ilies, w hich
w ill av erag e $470 a m onth per
w orker.
• T he sta te w ill p ro v id e full
dental co v erag e for em ployees and
their fam ilies. C u rre n tly , em p lo y ­
ees are c o v ered , and they m ust pay
a m onthly p rem iu m to co v e r fam ­
ily m em bers.
• T he u n io n w ill not be au th o ­
rized to add te m p o rary em ployees
to its b a rg a in in g unit. T he state
w ill co n tin u e in fo rm in g the union
w henever it co n tra cts o u t services.
T he sta te w an te d th e u n io n to
loosen the rep o rtin g req u irem en t.
K enn ed y , the s ta te ’s p erso n n el
d irecto r, said the p act is reaso n ­
able: “ It keeps p ace w ith the cost
o f living and the m ark et, and w e ’re
able to do it in a v ery d ifficu lt
fiscal e n v iro n m e n t.”
U nion o ffic ia ls, h o w ev er, said
that even w ith the raise, their m em ­
bers are still u n d erp a id by as m uch
as 15 percen t. “ T o m ain tain the
q u a lity o f p u b lic se rv ic e s, our
w ages m ust be m ade co m p etitiv e
w ith tho se in the p riv ate se cto r,”
L ed b etter said.
“ W e d o n ’t need to be defensive
about this (c o n tra c t).. . . Q uality is
entw ined w ith pay,” said A lice Dale,
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Donate Four Hours to Help 6,000 Oregon Athletes
Oregon Special O lym pics criti­
cally needs 900 volunteers August
13,14.15 to staff the l999Bite. Bite
volunteers receive t-shirts, vouchers
for free food and their nam es are
entered into a draw ing for a mystery
trip. Volunteers m ay choose single
or m ultiple four-hour shifts begin­
ning at 11 a m., 2:30 p.m. or 6:00
p.m. Opportunities for individual vol­
unteers include selling souvenirs, ice
cream, refreshments and more.
Corporate and service groups are
invited to be “Gate Sponsors." These
organizations will receive special rec­
ognition for their support o f the O r­
egon Special Olympics in all o f the
B ite's publications and promotional
materials. Gate sponsors may also
D a le s a id th a t a l th o u g h
O re g o n ’s eco n o m y has been so a r­
ing for sev eral y ears, state w o rk ­
ers h a v e n ’t b en efited as m u ch as
th eir p riv a te -se c to r co u n terp arts.
T he u n io n c a lle d a n in e -d a y
strik e in 1995 to p ro test low w ages
an d o th er issues. T w o years ago,
afte r a fo u r-y ear p ay freeze for
som e w o rk ers, the u nion w on a 6
p ercen t pay raise.
Last year, the state and the union
stu d ied p u b lic- and p riv a te -se c to r
salaries in O reg o n an d fo u r n e ig h ­
boring sta te s. The study found that,
on av e rag e, state w o rk ers w ere
ab o u t 8 p erc en t b eh in d the m a r­
ket, and u n io n em p lo y ees at the
top o f the pay sc ale w ere ro u g h ly
on par w ith g o v ern m en t and p r i­
v ate industry.
“G iv en the c o n ten tio u sn ess w e
see betw een the L eg islatu re and
the g o v ern o r, this w as n ot an easy
tim e to b a rg a in ,” L ed b e tte r said
K en n ed y said: “ W e w ere u n ­
able to get all the m o n ey w e ’d like
for raises. A g en cies are g o in g to
have to ab so rb som e o f th e c o s ts .”
T he D ep artm en t o f H u m an R e­
sources em ploys m ore u nion m em ­
bers than an y o th e r sta te ag en cy
and w ill h av e to w rin g m o n ey out
o f its b u d g et to co v e r h ig h e r sa la ­
ries. T he d ep artm en t o v ersees p ro ­
gram s serv in g ch ild ren , the p o o r,
the d isab led , the m e n ta lly ill and
the eld erly .
“ I d o n ’t know how m uch it w ill
be. I ’m n o t sure w h ere w e ’ll m ake
the c u ts,” said D oug W ilso n , the
d e p a rtm e n t's p ro g ram an d finance
d irector. S om e sav in g s m ay com e
from fallin g w elfare ca se lo ad s or
a drop in d em an d fo r o th e r se r­
v ices, W ilso n said.
“ I f ca selo ad s rise m o re th an we
ex p ect, it w ill be d iffic u lt to b ac k ­
fill this hole. It’s a little ea rly to
tell w hich ones w ill be b allo o n in g
u w j p y ,”
W ilso
,
u o v n
u said.
o u iw .
V o lu n teers w ho also h elp at th e
S u m m er S ports T o u rn am en t in S a ­
lem d u rin g the w eek fo llo w in g the
B ite, A u g u st 23 and 24 w ill r e ­
ceiv e an O regon S p ecial O ly m ­
p ics v o lu n te er card g o o d fo r f a n ­
tastic an d g reat dining e x p e rie n c e s
all o v er tow n, all y ear long. O v e r
500 ath letes sta te w id e w h o c o m ­
p ete in so ftb all and g o lf a tte n d th is
event. V olunteer o p p o rtu n ities are
flex ib le and ran g e from o n e -tim e ,
o n e -h o u r c o m m itm e n ts to lo n g
term v o lu n te er p o sitio n s.
To participate in the B ite fund­
raiser or to volunteer at the Sum m er
Sports Toum am ent, call O regon Spe­
cial O lym pics 24 hour, toll free v o l­
unteer hotline 800-993-7663.
post their corporate club banner.
G roups who register to sponsor a gate
will commit to staffing one o f the six
entry gates into the park for at least
one day. Gates require a m inim um o f
six volunteers at times that are re­
sponsible for accepting donations and
welcoming people to the festival.
Volunteer tune and dedication dur­
ing the Bite, the major fundraising
event for Oregon Special Olympics,
raises almost a quarter o f a million
dollars to support 6,000 Oregon ath­
letes with disabilities. The statewide
non-profit agency is dependent on the
efforts o f 10.000 volunteers annually
to provide sports training and com pe­
titions at no cost to o v er6.000 Oregon
athletes with mental retardation.
School Uniform Programs
Gather Momentum
»
This fall more than 500,000 New
York C ity K-8 students will be re­
quired to w ear school uniform s.
Schools in more than a dozen other
m ajor cities have recently adopted
uniform programs. Representatives
ofFrench Toast O fficial School wear
have worked w ith each o f these school
system s as they made the transition.
"W e are constantly fielding calls
and e-mails from concerned parents
and educators seeking more informa­
tion," says Beth Silver, brand manager
ofFrench Toast Official School Wear.
“They’re worried about the school en­
vironment. and many o f them see a
mot e to a uniform program as an im­
portant part o f the larger effort to ensure
a basic level o f safety in schools. They
want to be informed.” BethSilvermay
be scheduled for interviews by calling
one o f the contact numbers above.
French Toast, the country's largest
independent manufacturer o f school
uniforms, recently launched French
Toast as an online resource -------I
forparents
and retailer locators.
and administrators seeking informa­
tion about school uniform programs.
In addition to offering the full line o f
French Toast Official School W ear for
sale online, FrenchToast.com provides
background information on uniform
issues, advice on how to handle the
process, statistics, current articles and
interactive features such as dress code
French Toast is a division of
Lollytogs, Ltd. Based in N ew Y ork,
N ew Y ork. L ollytogs Ltd. w as
founded in 1958. French Toast W ear
offers m ore than 5000 different item s
in sizes 4 to Y oung M e n 's and Ju n ­
iors. at ch ild ren ’s w ear and uniform
retailers nationw ide.
Medicine For Less
phone num bers and ad d resses o f 85
pharm aceutical com panies, and an
easy to use index o f the 1,500 drugs
they m ake, as w ell as several d is­
count m ail-o rd er services.
The inform ation is available to
d o w n lo a d fo r fre e fro m T h e
I n s titu t e ’s I n te r n e t W e b s ite ,
www .institute-dc.org or for a paper
copy send $5 to cover the cost o f
pnnting, postage and handling to:
Institute FulfillmentCenter, Prescrip­
tion Drug Booklet #: PD -370, P.O.
Box 462, Elmira, NY 14902-0462.
A re you unable to pay for the
m ed icatio n you need? M any p h ar­
m aceutical com panies offer free or
d iscounted prescrip tio n s, through
rarely p ublicized program s, to p a­
tients w ho m eet criteria for assis­
tance. The program s vary in scope
and elig ib ility requirem ents.
To m ake the inform ation more
w idely know n, the C ost C ontain­
m ent R esearch Institute in W ash­
ington DC. has published a 32-page
booklet, “Free and Low C ost Pre­
scription D rugs". The booklet lists
122 Arrested In Civil Disobedience Protests
_
In coordinated actions on both coasts.
122 activists were arrested during non­
violent civil disobedience protests de­
manding liberty, a new trial and urgent
medical attention for award-winning
African- Amencanjoumalist and Penn­
sylvania death-row inmate Mumia Abu-
Jamal. At Philadelphia's Liberty Bell,
amidst 100-degree heat. 95 protesters
from all over the country disrupted busi­
ness as usual and closed the building for
the afternoon, during a weekend with
the heaviest tourist presence o f the year.
In San Francisco, after a mass march to
Union Square from the Federal Build­
ing, 27 activists blocked the street and
were arrested. Taken together, the dem­
onstrations amount to the largest civil
disobedience action against the death
penalty in U.S. history. The unprec­
edented actions, accompanied by sup­
port vigils o f hundreds nearby, were
sponsored by broad coalitions o f pro­
gressive activists and marked 17 years
to the day after Abu-Jamal’s death sen­
tence was imposed in a trail deemed
grossly unfair by Amnesty International
and many other observers worldw ide.
Dennis Brutus, South Africa’s poet
laureate and anti-apartheid former po­
litical prisoner, explained the need for
the dramatic demonstrations on behalf
o f Abu-Jamal. “In struggling for justice,
we are discovering that our voices are
not heard, our efforts are ignored, and in
feet what is confronting us is injustice.”
Brutus attacked the Effective Death
Penalty Act, a 1996 federal law sharply
limiting the appeal grounds o f death-
row inmates, including the ability to
introduce new exonerating ev idence and
testimony by defense witnesses.
The Philadelphia demonstration be­
gan when four people went inside the
Liberty Bell Pavillion and unfurled a
banner reading “Let Freedom Ring for
Mumia” nextto the historic icon. Within
minutes, several activists chained them­
selves to the two entrance doors, and
dozens from peace, lesbian/gay, AIDS,
African-American, la tin o and student
movements rushed to sit down in front,
while U.S. Park Police looked on help­
lessly. Two student activists clambered
onto die building's awning and held a
banner reading ‘ ‘Liberty for Mumia'' for
three hours, until they were removed by
police using a forklift. Participants in
die civil disobedience included Rev.
Lucius Walker, Executive Director o f
IFCO (Interreligious Foundation for
Community Organization) and Pastors
for Peace, /a v id Muhammad, founder
o f Frontline Artists, and activists from
such organizations as Student Libera­
tion Action Movement, Women for
Justice and the Free Mumia Abu-Jamal
Coalition. Two blind people and a
woman in a wheelchair were among
those arrested. It took police several
hours to clear all 95 protesters, who
were released within ten hours after
being charged with failure to obey a
lawful order. They are now feeing fines
o f $250 each, which will be contested.
Along with the Philadelphia and San
Francisco protests, over 100 people at­
tended a Providence, Rhode Island
prayer vigil and rally against the death
penalty and in support o f Abu-Jamal,
held in conjunction with the national
—
. ~
.
r>.<
««
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i
f
General Synod o f the Untied Church of
Christ. In a statement o f solidarity read
to the Philadelphia demonstration, UCC
President Rev. Paul Sherry said, “We
recognize the critical urgency o f
Mumia’s case and his role as a figure o f
international importance.” Also read at
the Liberty Bell vigil was a support
statement from Puerto Rican nationalist
Rafeel Cancel Miranda, who connected
Abu-Jamal's case with that o f the Puerto
Rican political prisoners; another state­
ment linked the plight o f Abu-Jamal as
a political prisoner with that o f Ameri­
can Indian Movement leader Leonard
Peltier, falsely impnsoned for life and in
___
111____ I . L
'
severe ill health inadequately treated by
prison authorities.
The three U.S. protests followed
hard on the heels o f two demonstrations
in Paris demanding immediate medical
care and a Justice Department investi­
gation into violations o f Abu-Jamal's
civil rights during his original trial. On
June 16. tw enty-three American. French
and African activists were arrested after
storming the American Library in Pans
during President Clinton’s visit with
President Jacques Chirac. Five days
later, a demonstration for Abu-Jamal
greeted Rev. Jesse Jackson, who was
visiting. (Jackson was targeted for the
be able to travel without being con­
fronted by the Mumia Abu-Jamal file
wherever they go.” She promised fur­
ther protests.
Last October, Pennsylvania's Su­
preme Court denied Abu-Jamal's bid
for a new trial, upholding the ruling o f
Judge Sabo, the original trial judge.
Abu-Jamal, an author and activist, was
convicted in 1982 o f the shooting death
o f a Philadelphia police officer m a trial
tainted by the flagrant bias o f Judge
Sabo, by the deliberate exclusion o f 11
Black potential jurors and by a court-
appointed lawyer who, by his own ad-
CONTINUED ON PAGE A4
w ' Q l l C P r v f n i c r r A lP
demonstration I because
o f his role as
spintual advisor to President Clinton
and his own history o f civil disobedi­
ence.) Jackson later told former first
lady ofFrance Danielle Minerand, who
has visited Abu-Jamal, that he too will
soon visit the death row inmate. Among
the activists arrested June 16 was writer
Juilia Wright oflntemational Concerned
Family and Friends o f Mumia Abu-
Jamal. Mrs. Wright, daughter o f re­
nowned author Richard Wright, said,
“We wanted to show the officials who
get elected on death-penalty platforms
and go on diplomatic tnps abroad out­
side the American ghetto that they won’t
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