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East Oregonian
Thursday, May 23, 2019
Layoffs: Oregon senators respond with letter to Hinkle closure
Continued from Page A1
195 jobs exceeds $9.7 mil-
lion a year.
Using the common eco-
nomic development trope
that every $1 in the local
economy goes through
seven trades, the payroll
from the 195 jobs multiplies
to more than $68 million.
According to data in the
city of Hermiston’s annual
fi nancial report issued in
June 2018, Union Pacifi c
was the city’s fi fth-larg-
est employer at roughly
500 employees. At the top
of the list was Con-Agra
Foods, at 1,600 employees,
followed by the Wal-Mart
Distribution Center, Good
Shepherd Medical Cen-
ter and Hermiston School
District.
Assistant city man-
ager Mark Morgan said in
an email that Hermiston is
working on a “small indus-
trial lot project” with the
Port of Umatilla to bring
about 50 acres of industrial
parcels (one of 5 acres in
size) up to “shovel-ready”
status. The project will
extend roads and utilities to
the parcels and connect the
area on the southern edge of
town to Highway 395.
A summary of the proj-
ect lists the need for eco-
nomic diversity as a driver
behind the project, noting
that in the past when large
employers such as Hermis-
ton Foods have closed it has
been a “major blow” to the
economy. The city hopes
bringing in more options
for employment at smaller
operations will help.
“[Tuesday’s] announce-
ment by UP only under-
scores why the Mayor and
Council are committed to
diversifying our employ-
ment base through this
project,” Morgan said.
Union Pacifi c delivers
freight to the Port of Mor-
row in Boardan. Ryan Neal,
the port’s executive direc-
tor, said he did not antic-
ipate the port would sus-
tain adverse effects from
the cuts at Hinkle. But like
others, he called the losses
devastating for the area,
particular because they are
family-wage jobs.
“We don’t ever want to
see those go away,” he said.
In response to Union
Pacifi c’s
announcement,
Neal said, the port issued
one of its own showing a
total of 62 job openings at
businesses operating at the
port, including a physical
security manager for Ama-
zon, maintenance mechan-
ics for Pacifi c Ethanol Inc.
and Lamb Weston and
forklift operators at Lamb
Weston and Boardman
Foods Inc.
Union Pacifi c started
cutting jobs at Hinkle in
October 2018. Wyden and
Merkley stated in the let-
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
A string of rail cars sits on a rail line west of the Hinkle Rail Yard on Tuesday. Union Pacifi c fi led notice with the state that it will
lay off up to 195 employees at the rail yard near Hermiston.
ter those layoffs hurt agri-
culture producers and other
shippers, who reported
“diffi culties
reaching
Union Pacifi c staff to
resolve problems, or even
reach a customer service
representative.”
Union Pacifi c’s “failure
to work with Oregon ship-
pers,” the senators con-
tinued, could create more
congestion on freeways
and undermine the state’s
transportation infrastruc-
ture. And the closure of the
Hinkle mechanical loco-
motive shop would reduce
oversight inspection of
trains carrying hazardous
loads through rural Oregon
communities
To better understand the
effects of eliminating the
jobs, Wyden and Merkley
asked Union Pacifi c for the
following:
•The numbers of work-
ers of each classifi cation
the company laid off or
forced to relocate by Ore-
gon county and facility,
including car and locomo-
tive repair and signal and
track work.
•The number of these
workers Union Pacifi c
hired in the last three years.
•The investments union
Pacifi c made in Oregon
facilities in the last seven
years, including any at
Hinkle.
The senators asked Union
Pacifi c if the Federal Rail
Administration reviewed
workers’ safety concerns
at Hinkle and other Oregon
facilities since the company
started layoffs in Octo-
ber. The East Oregonian
reported on those safety
concerns in late March:
https://www.eastoregonian.
com/news/local/union-pa-
cifi c-layoffs-at-hinkle-yard-
in-hermiston-draw-safety/
a r t icle _ 3e56eb10 -5197-
11e9-93ad-07e07f be8a36.
html
Wyden and Merkely also
warned Union Pacifi c about
its consolidation efforts:
“As UPRR adopts the Pre-
cision Schedule Railroad-
ing model to reduce oper-
ating rations, cutting rural
workforce and facilities,
there are many cautionary
tales where this strategy has
not performed well over the
long term.”
Happy: Sunridge thinks outside the box to employ man with intellectual disability
Continued from Page A1
“He came and said, ‘This
is the right person. He can
do the job,’” Williams
recalled.
Williams said he doesn’t
regret the hiring decision,
calling it a classic win-win.
Virgil gets the fulfi llment
of working hard and earn-
ing a paycheck. Sunridge
gets a clean school and the
satisfaction of helping a
man realize his potential.
Earlier this month, Wil-
liams and the district’s
director of business ser-
vices, Michelle Jones,
traveled to Wilsonville to
accept an award from The
Arc Oregon, which sup-
ports and advocates for
people with intellectual and
developmental disabilities.
The award goes to a
business or individual
employing a person with an
intellectual disability for at
least a year and elevating
the person’s independence,
integration and participa-
tion in the community. Vir-
gil nominated the school.
Williams, who called
the award “humbling,” said
Virgil has more than proved
he can do the job. The prin-
cipal said he can set a clock
by the custodian who walks
by his offi ce to punch in
each day. Often they chat
about the Blazers. The con-
tact inevitably leaves Wil-
liams smiling.
“Every bone in his body
is happy,” the principal
said. “He’s the nicest man.”
Virgil said said likes
custodial work and the pre-
dictability of each day’s
routine.
“It’s a good job,” he said.
“I work hard. The kids are
really friendly. The princi-
pal likes me.”
Lebsock, the facilities
manager, said the other
three Sunridge custodi-
ans deserve some kudos,
too, for showing Virgil
the ropes and stepping in
occasionally when he gets
overwhelmed.
“It’s a real team up
there,” Lebsock said. “They
deserve credit for helping in
Eric’s success.”
Virgil’s mom gets emo-
tional when she thinks
about her son’s journey.
“It took a long time
for him to get commu-
nity employment,” said
Jan Schroth. “I had actu-
ally kind of given up on it
because he needed so much
support.”
She worried that if her
son got a job, he might not
be successful and she won-
dered how that could affect
him.
She gets a little teary
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Custodian Eric Virgil looks over his checklist under the watchful eye of his job coach, Chris Humphrey, while working at Sun-
ridge Middle School on Tuesday in Pendleton.
thinking of how well it has
worked out.
“I’m really grateful to
the Pendleton School Dis-
trict,” Schroth said. “They
are a good example to the
community that this can
work.”
Health: Umatilla County gets mixed
bill of health from researchers
Continued from Page A1
nosed or treated for anxi-
ety or emotional problems,
but they seemed especially
averse to talking with a
mental health professional
to help them with those
issues.
Only 1% of adults said
they talked to a profes-
sional for either dealing
with stress or getting emo-
tional and social support.
In terms of dealing
with stress, “talking with
a professional” is below
prayer/meditation, sleep-
ing, alcohol consumption,
marijuana use and “tak-
ing it out on others,” and
is on par with “gambling/
lottery.”
The data suggests that
many Umatilla County
residents have dealt with
trauma in their pasts.
Twenty percent of adults
said they had four or more
adverse childhood experi-
ences in their lifetime, but
that number spikes to 50%
for adults under 30 and 52
percent for people earning
$25,000 or less.
Health disparity
At her presentation,
Elliott said researchers
were thrilled that 36.6%
of respondents in the sur-
vey identified as being of
“Hispanic origin,” which
is higher than the percent-
age counted in the U.S.
census.
But researchers still
didn’t have the raw num-
ber of survey takers they
needed to feel comfortable
with the data, so they took
it a step further.
Instead of being admin-
istered through the mail
like the standard adult
survey, the “Hispanic
Adult Convenience Sur-
vey” was distributed at
schools, medical centers,
laundromats, workplaces,
and even door-to-door
outreach.
The results show that,
more often than not, Lati-
nos in Umatilla County
had poorer health out-
comes than the general
population.
While the rate of
annual doctor’s checkups
and emergency room vis-
its were in line with the
county as a whole, 56% of
Latino adults did not have
health care coverage, eight
times the rate of the gen-
eral population.
In some of the most
glaring disparities, Lati-
nos were less likely to rate
their health as excellent or
good, receive dental care,
or get a clinical breast
exam.
They were more likely
to report being diagnosed
with diabetes, being forced
to have sexual intercourse,
or threatened or abused in
the past year.
Paula Boga, executive
director of the Arc Oregon,
called Sunridge a leader.
“There are a lot of
employers around the state
who are not willing to do
what they did,” Bogle said.
“Their willingness to
make that work is good for
others to see.”
Having a paycheck has
made Virgil’s life richer.
He loves to travel with his
mother and stepfather, Bob
Schroth.
Recently, the family
vacationed in the Caribbean.
“He pays his way,” Jan
Schroth said. “We let him
pick the place.”
———
Contact Kathy Aney at
kaney@eastoregonian.com
or 541-966-0810.
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