M arch 02 , 2011 Workers Hearing draws 100 people to local meeting Workers R ights B o a rd The challenges affecting the U n ited S ta te s P o stal S erv ice boiled over at a hearing last week in Portland regarding working conditions and service. More than 100 people crow ded into A ugustana Lutheran Church in Northeast Portland Feb. 21 for a public hearing chaired by State Sen. Chip Shields regarding over­ all postal service. Both custom ers and Dostal em ployees spoke. w ith the continued develop­ ment of electronic com m unica­ tions, the USPS has seen a dra­ matic decrease in revenue, while expenses have continued to rise. The com bination has led to rising postal rates and reductions in staff. Home delivery on Saturday may soon be discontinued. Jim Cook, president of the local N ational A ssociation o f Letter C arriers, spoke of how the inabil­ ity to hire new em ployees has led to chronic m andatory overtim e as being the key to an erosion in Job, with Justice A hearing draws State Senator Chip Shields, Multnomah Education Service District Board Director Geri Washington, Rethinking Schools' Bill Bigelow and others to discuss the postal service crisis. custom er service. labor costs. Beyond cutting ser­ “Letter carriers want to pro­ vice days, the Postm aster General vide the best service possible,” is advocating the closure of 2,000 Cook said. “We just need more post offices. staff.” E m ployee organizations say USPS m anagem ent has stated that the postal service is in debt a hiring freeze is necessary to cut m ostly because of Bush-era man- dates, which Congress or Presi­ dent Obam a could fix. “The issues facing the public postal service are o f deep con­ cern to all com m unity m em bers,” Shields said. “I found particularly troubling certain m anagem ent practices, especially with regard to u n d e rstaffin g and “ tra n s i­ tional" employees, but I also came away with a sense o f hope be­ cause of some great ideas for the future.” A fter listening to testim ony from over 20 speakers, the Port­ land Area W orkers Rights Board, which sponsored the hearing, pro­ duced a report recom m ending Portland-area postal facilities im ­ prove their working conditions through the hiring of more local carriers. The p a n e l’s m em b ers also pledged to com m unicate with Portland’s Congressional delega­ tion and forward to the President their desire to see a swift solution to the USPS accounting problems. O ther m em ber o f the w orkers’ rights board joining Shields on the panel, included Rev. John Schwiebert of United M ethodist C hurch, M ultnom ah E ducation Service D istrict D irector Geri W ashington, Casa Bruno ow ner Don Oman, Jon Bartholom ew of the Oregon Students Public Inter­ est Research Group (OSPIRG), and B ill B ig e lo w o f R e th in k in g Schools. ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN D A " O E A T E R JUDITH JAMISON A R T IS TIC D IR EC TO R M asazu m i C haya ASSOCIATE A R TISTIC DIRECTOR In this June 2 5 ,1 9 4 5 picture, army doctors expose patients to malaria-carrying mosquitoes in the malaria ward at Stateville Penitentiary in Crest Hill, III. R o b e r t B a t t le A R TISTIC DIRECTOR DESIGNATE Past M edical Testing on Humans Revealed (AP) - Shocking as it may seem, U.S. governm ent doctors once thought it was fine to experiment on disabled people and prison inmates. Such experiments included giv­ ing hepatitis to mental patients in Connecticut, squirting a pandemic flu virus up the noses of prisoners in Maryland, and injecting cancer cells into chronically ill people at a New York hospital. Much of this horrific history is 40 to 80 years old, but it is the backdrop for a meeting in Washington this week by a presidential bioethics commission. The meeting was trig­ gered by the government's apology last fall for federal doctors infecting prisoners and mental patients in Guatemala with syphilis 65 years ago. U.S. officials also acknowledged there had been dozens of similar experiments in the United States — studies that often involved making healthy people sick. Two Exciting Programs both featuring Revelations TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY white Ibird hdceim asier 1-800-745-3000 and PCPA Box Office Info/Groups 503-245-1600 ext. 201 MARCH IS & 16 Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 7:30pm w w w .w hitebird.org Bonham s sponsored by S££TLT.eLDS °*RCI H sw . ndelis