_____________ __ i,!e 'I’J o rtlan b (©bseruer
Page A2
November 28. 2007
Workers Fight
for Fairness
continued
front Front
rep lacem en t in a cou p le years
w ill learn all the stu d en ts' nam es
an d the tricks for keeping things
ru n ning sm oothly.”
N ot for h erself but for the next
g en eration o f students and w o rk ­
ers. K irk atten d ed a rally last
w eek w ith m ore than 200 p ar­
en ts. te ach ers and co m m u n ity
s u p p o r te r s in f ro n t o f th e
d is tric t's central adm inistrative
b u ilding at 501 N. Dixon.
S chool B oard rep resentatives
at the location heard testim ony
after testim ony about the value
o f the w ork done by custodians,
b u s d riv e rs an d fo o d -s e rv ic e
w o rkers and the integral part they
play in the com m unity.
Jefferson H igh S chool paren t-
te a c h e r a s s o c ia tio n P re sid e n t
N ancy S m ith an d O reg o n H ouse
S p e a k e r J e f f M e rk le y w e r e
am o n g th o se a g a in st the p ro ­
posed pay cu ts an d the potential
fo r o u ts o u r c in g f o o d -s e rv ic e
w o rk e rs' jo b s.
“ I am l(X) p ercen t against a 30
percent cu t.” M erkley said.
C alling adm in istratio n actions
"a co m ed y o f e r r o r.” D ave
S chleiger, a cu sto d ian at Sitton
E lem entary S chool in north P o rt­
land. spots a painful irony in his
u n io n ’s return to jo b s that had
b e e n o u ts o u r c e d to d is a b le d
w orkers in 2002 after a failed
attem pt to save sim ilar am o u n ts
o f m oney.
T h e o u ts o u rc in g e ffo rt e n d e d
photo m
R aymond R endleman /T he P ortland O bserver
Benson High School custodian Birdie Kirk and Bridger
Elementary bus driver Nicky Barron (right), rally for
economic justice in a dispute over wages and benefits
for workers employed with Portland Public Schools.
up c o s tin g th e d is tric t m o re
th a n th e s a v in g s in sa lary ju s t
th r o u g h th e a d d e d c o s ts o f
tra in in g an d su p p o rt s ta ff
Ask Deanna !
Real People,
Real Advice
The Sounds
of the Season!
An advice
column
known f o r
reality based
subjects!
Make music part of your holiday season with
these festive Oregon Symphony concerts:
presented tn
(HI
Dear Deanna!
IfATHWVN HOTH
Gospel Christm as
Dec 7 |7 30 cm Dec 8 I 7:30 p ri Dec 9
30 pr
Charles Floyd, onauctcr
Northwest Community Gospel Chorus
I if, holiday sprits high with the joyful sounds of Christmas Pynanw
conductor Charles Hoyd joins inspirational soloists and the passion
ate and powe-tJ Northwest Community Gospel Chorus tor this
pregni,;i b,
' Standard
Yuletide S p ectacu lar
Dec 15
pm'S 7:30 p ri
Dec 16
• .in
Dec 17
John Morris Russell, conductor
Scott Coopwood, featured actor
the magic of the holiday season comes
abve with Yuietide Spectacular. The whole
family will love this sparkling holiday revue,
complete with dazzling costumes, festive sets.
traditional holiday music and a retelling of
Cnanes Dickens' A Christmas Carol.
■ > pm
,
On Saturday, Dec. I and Saturday,
Dec. 15, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., with
lantern in hand and a skilled ranger
leading the w ay. explore the history
o f Fort V ancouver, 612 E. Reserve
St. in Vancouver.Call 360-816-6243
for more information.
.
G roups of 1O o r M o re Save!
Tickets make great gifts!
Business after Hours
Oregon Symphony gift cards are
available in any dollar amount.
Roy Jay and the A frican A m erican
C h a m b e r h o sts B u sin ess afte r
Hours with special guest speaker
State Rep. Jackie D ingfelder on
Tuesday,D ec. 11 at6:30p.m . at 888
S.W. Fifth Ave., Third Floor. RSVP
by calling 503-244-5794.
rortUMTribunr
M UJ
t
O rS ym p h o n y.o rg
5 0 3 -2 2 8 - 1 3 5 3
Ticket Office Hours: 10 am -6 pm M -F & 9 a m -5 p m S a ,
A R L E N E S C H M IT Z E R C O N C E R T H A L L
SW Main & Broadway
a
Ticketmaster 503-790-ARTS
Portland Center for the Performing Arts
y o u 're en title d to clo su re. H ow ­
ever, in th is case, you have a full
stop w ith som ething called a wife.
You w ere used and taken a d v a n ­
tage of. Y o u ’re no dum m y and if
you d id n ’t have his hom e n u m ­
ber, n ev er met his fam ily o r been
to h is h o u s e , y o u s h o u ld ’ve
know n so m eth in g w as up. But
hey. you w ere in love, sex u ally
sprung and he alw ays played with
you w hen his w ife w a s n 't a v a il­ I
able. C o u n t this as a loss, and
m ove on because an y th in g o th ­
erw ise can get you serio u sly hurt.
I dated a guy for three years. W e
spent tim e together, traveled and
he occasionally stayed at my place.
As far as I can rem em ber, we spent
several m ajor holidays together. I
d id n 't meet his family and never Dear Deanna!
M y m a rriag e is on a rocky road.
stayed with him. O ne day he su d ­
W e m arried as partners and now
denly left town w ithout telling me.
I tracked him dow n by hiring a p ri­ w e 're on the w ay to b ecom ing
en em ies. M y h u sband app ears
vate investigator and learned he
je a lo u s o f my su ccess and he
had a wife and kids. I want to know
finds jo y in my failu res and tries
if I should appear on his doorstep
to co m p ete fin an cially . I thought
and surprise him or leave it alone?
I w as p aran o id hut he fo cu ses on
— A n o n y m o u s; O n -L in e R e a d e r
g ettin g ah ead o f m e and tries to
Dear Anonymous:
o u td o me in ev ery th in g . My re ­
W hen a norm al relatio n sh ip ends. q u est for him to stop this behav-
Ranger Lantern Tours
• „
-
-7 */
.
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n e e d e d to k e e p f a c ilitie s in ta ct.
In a d d itio n , th e O re g o n S u ­
p re m e C o u rt ru le d th e firin g s
ille g a l, fo rc in g th e d is tric t to
Weatherization Workshops
T hursday, Nov. 29, from 6 p.m. to 8
p.m.. Beaum ont SUN School, 4043
N.E. Freem ont, will host the free
edu catio n al w orkshops to self-
o m m unity
a le n d a r
C
w eatherize your home: qualifying
participants will receive a free weath­
erizing kit. Free w eatherization is
available for seniors. Call 503-284-
6827 to register.
re in s ta te th e p o sitio n s an d pay
a $ 1 4 .5 -m illio n -d o lla r s e ttle ­
m e n t th at b a re ly c o v e re d th e
c u s to d ia n s ’ litig a tio n c o sts.
W ith th e d is tric t n o w d e e p e r
in th e red o n s u p p o r t- s ta f f p a y ­
m e n ts, S c h le ig e r sa y s, “ I h o p e
th a t th e c u rre n t sc h o o l b o a rd is
m o r e o p e n - m i n d e d to s e e
w h a t’s re a lly g o in g o n .”
S e e in g a sta b le a n d d e d ic a te d
w o rk fo rc e as in te g ra l to a sa fe ,
se c u re an d h e a lth y le a rn in g e n ­
v iro n m e n t fo r sc h o o l c h ild re n ,
h e a d d s , “ T h e y s h o u ld lo o k
b ack an d see th a t, if y o u w an t
q u a lity p u b lic s e rv ic e , y o u h av e
to p ay fo r q u a lity s e rv ic e .”
T h e u n io n r e p r e s e n t i n g
P P S ’s s u p p o rt s ta f f h as trie d to
g et th e a d m in is tra tio n to a g re e
in w r itin g th a t o u ts o u r c i n g
s h o u ld n ’t h a p p e n ag a in .
"A lth o u g h th ey h av e said they
w o u l d n 't c o n t r a c t o u t, th e y
w o u l d n ’t a g r e e to th a t la n ­
g u a g e ,” sa y s C a se y F ilic e , a
u n io n o rg a n iz e r.
F o r N ic k y B a r r o n , w h o
d riv e s a b u s ro u te fo r K -8 s tu ­
d e n ts a tte n d in g B rid g e r S ch o o l
at S o u th e a s t 8 0 th A v e n u e , th e
iss u e sim p ly re s ts on h a v in g a
b it o f jo b se c u rity an d th e m ean s
to su rv iv e .
“ E v e n if w e h av e a c o s t-o f-
liv in g in c re a se in ste a d o f a raise,
w e ’d h av e s o m e th in g to sh o w
th a t th e y c a r e ,” sh e say s.
io r falls on d e a f ears. W e spend
m ost d ay s arg u in g or not sp e ak ­
ing and I'm at the end o f my rope.
Help! — P am Tiggs; D urham . N.C.
Dear Pam:
Y o u r h u sb a n d ’s no lo n g er the
big fish in y o u r sm all pond. H e ’s
alw ay s been co m p etitiv e but you
w ere not in a p o sitio n o f upw ard
m o b ility , so you d id n ’t notice.
H is m anhood has been in su lted
and he feels h e ’s no lo n g er the
hero. You have to stro k e his ego.
G iv e verbal co m p lim en ts, m ake
him feel needed and co n stan tly
drill in his head the idea that y o u ’re
ateam . A ftera w h ile .h e ’ll feel like
the king again and you can sm ile
an d keep it m oving.
Ask Deanna is written by Deanna
M.
Write Ask D eanna!
Email: askdeanna / @yahoo, com
or 264 S. LaCienega Blvd.
Suite 1283 Beverly Hills, CA
90211.
Visit the website
www.askdeanna.com
sake photos o f your pet with Santa
and help anim als in need. Visit
oregonhum ane.org for dates and
locations.
Breakfast with Santa
Begin a holiday tradition on Satur­
day and Sunday, Dec. I & 2, at 10
a.m. and noon, at K ennedy School,
5736 N.E. 33 Ave., the entire family
Holiday Ale Festival
can share a special breakfast and
B e g in n in g T h u rsd ay , N ov. 29
with Santa. Call 503-249-3983 for
through Sunday, Dec. 2, from 1 1
more inform ation and reservations.
a.m. to 10 p.m ., the 12th annual
festival at P io n eer C o u rth o u se Ceramic Guild Pottery Sale
Square provides beer lovers the M onday, Dec. 3 through T hurs­
opportunity to sam ple some or all day. Dee. 6. Portland C om m unity
o f the 36 rare beers featured.
C o lle g e 's Rock C reek C am pus
(A trium Building 3), hosts the larg­
‘GirlFest’
est collection o f both creative and
Saturday. Dec. 1, at the Portland
functional pottery available to the
Expo C enter, from 10 a.m. to 6:30
direct public. Call 503-848-0272 for
p.m., thousands of Girl Scouts will
more information.
gather to participate in this hands-
on learning opportunity; learning Presents for Primates
about everything from high adven­ Thursday,D ee. 13,at 10a.m .,Santa
ture sports to science and technol­ and the Oregon Zookeepers will
ogy to singing and dancing. To present the entire prim ate family
learn m ore, visit girlscoutscrc.org with early holiday gifts; bring your
orcall 503-977-6800.
cam eras and enjoy the fun. For more
inform ation, visit oregonzoo.org.
Arts and Crafts Fair
Friends o f Trees is offering the gift
that keeps on growing, plant a tree
or a grove in honor or m em ory o f
someone. For more information, visit
friendsoftrees.org.
Crafts and Bake Sale
Learn to Make Recycled Art
Saturday. Dec. 8, from 10 a.m. to 6
p.m. and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 4
p.m., the Bread and Roses Center,
819 N. Killingsw orth St., host the
craft fair and bake sale fundraiser
forthe Freedom Socialist Party and
Radical W omen. For more informa­
tion.call 503-240-4462.
Port land C om m unity C ollege is o f­
fering the hands-on training to cre­
ate art from recycled materials;
c la s s e s w ill be h e ld at th e
ReBuilding Center. 3625 N. M issis­
sippi Ave. 5 0 3 -7 3 1 -6622 for info.
Santa Paws Comes to Town
A MILLION MAGICAL LIGHTS’
Ride our tw inkling train • Meet elves, Rudolf and animal mascots • Enjoy live performances every night
ZOO
<
5 minutes from downtown Portland off Hwy 26 West. Come by MAX and get a $1 admission discount
with support from
oes.
Green Gift That Grows
W ednesday, Dec. 5 and Thursday,
Dec. 6, from IOa.m.to7p.m..MHCC-
G resham Cam pus. C ollege Center
Lounge-rOom 1051, host the 38th
annual arts and crafts fair. For more
information.call 503-491 -7260.
The O regon Human Society’s, an­
nual fundraiser even, Santa Paws
Pe, Portrait, takes place through­
out the holiday season a, eight
local Fred M eyer stores. G e, keep-
Literacy Volunteers Needed
The V olunteer Literacy Program at
Portland C om m unity C ollege-C as­
cade needs volunteer tutors to pro­
vide free individualized instruction
in basic literacy. English language,
and math skills. Call 503-244-3898
or visit oregonliteraey.org.