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NEWSLETTER |
Past Newsletters |
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January 2003 meeting report
By Bruce Dennis The January meeting was well attended, with 73 members present. Political Representative Ed Glad gave a report regarding the upcoming Ballot Measure 28 issue and our new Labor Commissioner Dan Gardner’s pro-worker agenda. Ed also thanked all the 247 volunteers that helped with last November’s election. Our Representative reported on various job opportunities and upcoming prospects. Organizer Jerry Auvil reported on Equity Properties informational leafleting and organizing goals and strategies. The 247 building committee recommendation to put a canvas awning on the front of our building was accepted. 247 Political Committee members, Joe Baron and Darell Duffy presented awards to several 247 members for their volunteer service during the November election (see picture). They also reported on the need for a 247 voter registration drive. Jason Sheckler gave a report from Jobs with Justice – autoworkers from Williams Controls are still on strike. Under “Good of the Order” there were several comments about Measure 28, the recent toy drive and Delegate training. Christmas in April volunteer effort was also reported on; anyone interested ….. please contact the office. The Trustees’ recommendation to budget $27,500 for our annual picnic was accepted. There was a motion passed to invite Gil Kelly, Planning Director, City of Portland to speak at a local Union meeting. The meeting went fairly smooth and adjourned at 9:50 p.m. As per usual, this report only touches on the primary topics. For complete meeting info…… BE THERE the second Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m. |
General membership
Meets the second Tuesday, Feb. 11, at 7 p.m. at the Carpenters Hall, 2205 N.
Lombard, Portland. We will be awarding Local 247 Carhartt jackets to 27
journeymen and three recently graduated apprentices.
Retirees
Retirees meet for lunch the second Monday, Feb. 10, at 11 a.m. at JJ North’s,
10520 NE Halsey, Portland.
Executive Board
Executive Board meets the fourth Tuesday, Feb. 25, at 7 p.m. at the Carpenters
Hall, 2205 N. Lombard, Portland.
Rebuilding Together with
Christmas in April
By Joe Baron
As many of you know, every year Local 247 participates in what was formally known as “Christmas in April.” The new title is “Rebuilding Together with Christmas in April.” Although the name has changed, it’s still a wonderful way for us to give back to the less fortunate in our community. We will be asking for volunteers to work on Saturday, April 26, to donate their many skills in repairing mostly elderly, low income residents homes and structures. Lunch will be served and a barbeque is held afterward at the University of Portland. You can pick up a volunteer sign up sheet at Local 247, download a copy from our website or call 503-943-7515.
Let’s all be good Union citizens and display a positive image out in the community for everyone to see!
Regional Council delegates from the Portland
Vancouver Metropolitan area meet to discuss the direction of our Union.
Pride… Heroism… Brotherhood…
The American Carpenter
The following is the winning entry in the Local 247 Scholarship Program, written by the granddaughter of 47-year member Merle Ehlinger. She was awarded a $750 scholarship from Local 247.
By Nicole Ehlinger
As the quill ink signed over the Declaration of Independence, America acquired a blank canvas to paint. Much like this blank canvas, labor in the nation was unregulated. The labor market was facing a serious lack of unity and had essentially no organization. Raw material prices were not regulated and there was a great deal of competition between individuals in all the trades. This competition and volatile price fluctuations made working as a tradesman very unstable. In the midst of this instability, one trade realized the need for structure. The carpenters, still clinging to the unwritten rules they had brought with them from Europe, were motivated to unionize. From the beginning the carpentry trade has been structured by having the masters mentor the apprentices. This intimate learning guaranteed that the unwritten rules would be passed on from generation to generation. These traditional rules manifested themselves as pride, heroism, and brotherhood and the carpenters’ outward display of these traits led to the forming of the union as well as fortifying it into what it is today.
Before describing the traits possessed by the carpenters, an introduction to their union, The United Brotherhood of Carpenters (UBC), must be discussed. Today the UBC can be described as being “committed to uncompromised excellence” and the “organization, training, and effective representation of all carpenters” (CU247). The union has grown to over 520,000 members and maintains local chapters throughout the United States and Canada (UBC). The UBC shows support for excellence in higher education by awarding scholarships and providing ongoing training workshops. They also sponsor many events to provide assistance to their communities. An annual event, for Local Union 247 is “Christmas in April.” Union members help elderly and disadvantaged homeowners, as well as charitable organizations, by providing much needed construction and maintenance to their buildings. Without the carpenters’ generosity and love for their community, many of these buildings would be left in disrepair. The UBC is also devoted to helping children, as evidenced by their ongoing support of Doernbecher’s children’s hospital. Some members even go as far as shaving their heads for charity. The UC of today is committed not only to excellence among its members but excellence in its communities. The qualities that the UBC embraces today are to the identical qualities that played essential roles in forming the union over a century ago.
One quality that was integral in the formation of the union was brotherhood. The carpenters felt united, not only by their constitution, but by their connection with each other. Being a part of the union meant you had obligations to your fellow members. If your brother was in trouble, it was your duty to come running to his rescue. An example of this dedication to the union transpired early in the union’s history. May 1st of 1886, just five years after the forming of the UBC, 340,000 union workers walked away from their job sites to demonstrations around their cities (UBC). They protested against twelve-hour workdays and the minimal wages being offered by the contractors. United in brotherhood, they fought for an eight-hour day and increased wages. Banded together for their cause, the union was able to show its strength to the contractors and secure wage increases and decent working hours.
The Great Depression was another example of the carpenters’ unwavering brotherhood. Not simply a battle with contractors, the Great Depression was a fight for survival and every trade was facing it. Many proud carpenters, unable to provide for their families, looked to the UBC for support. Committed to its members’ survival, the UBC attempted to aid in the fight by lowering dues, battling for twenty-four or thirty-hour work weeks, forbidding overtime, and I instituting job sharing programs (UBC). This joint effort was successful because the members recognized their strength in numbers. If one carpenter worked a sixty-hour week he would receive the money necessary to sustain his family, but his brother would not work at all. Shorter work weeks, forbidding overtime, and job sharing allowed every UBC member a chance to earn a wage and support their family. The brotherhood of UBC members could not be depicted any clearer than by the act of choosing to earn less money for one’s own family to allow one’s brother to support his.
Another quality common to all members of the UBC is pride. This pride was exemplified through Peter J. McGuire, leader, visionary, and founder of the UBC. McGuire dedicated his life to the UBC. It wasn’t uncommon for McGuire to work over eighteen-hours a day, putting his blood and sweat into keeping the carpenters’ union alive as it was being formed from the dust. McGuire was committed to his members and believed in the strength of brotherhood. He was dedicated to keeping all members informed and provided a garden for the brotherhood to grow. In 1882, McGuire and the union were financially broke; he borrowed the money to print the Carpenter, the union’s monthly magazine. This magazine was vital in keeping the lines of communication open between the UBC and its members, allowing them to stay connected despite the miles that kept them separated. McGuire’s pride and commitment to the UBC could not be described any better than through his own words when he expressed his desire for a strong union, “I will work at my trade, give up my salary, and kill myself at night to keep things going …” (UBC).
McGuire not only expressed his commitment to the UBC through words but also through his actions. He left his home and journeyed cross country to spread the word about the UBC and instill ride among members across the nation. McGuire’s unwavering pride was evidenced at his resignation as leader of the UBC at the 1902 convention. The years had taken their toll on his body as he had pushed himself to the limit. No one could argue that McGuire dedicated his time, livelihood and essentially his life, to his belief in a strong union. His efforts, however, were not in vain. The pride that McGuire embedded into the UBC is evident today in each union member. One seasoned member expresses his pride as he advises the younger generation “to get into the union and support it fully” (Ehlinger). Another member comments, “as a union carpenter you have great benefits including all the knowledge of the old timers before you. Much of which is something that can not be found in books alone. So if you want to have pride in your work and want to learn how to build right seek out a Union by you and go ask questions” (Howe). These members clearly retain the pride that McGuire worked so hard to instill. Without this element of pride, the members would not feel united and there would be no central love or dedication for the greater good. Having this pride, not only in the UBC, but in each other, union members brought strength to the union. It was this strength that would air in sustaining the UBC into the future.
The history of the UBC is shown that it has not had an easy road to travel. In fact, the final trait, that of heroism, was not only crucial to the stability of the union but also played an essential role in the structure of the nation. Heroism embodies both the traits of brotherhood and pride, but adds a component of action. In times of trouble, it had become second nature for the carpenters to join together and rebuild American cities. WWII redirected the focus of America’s manufacturing to building large scale wartime housing. The city of Vanport was built to house the huge influx of shipyard workers who were busy building ships for the war. The flooding of Vanport, only a short time after its completion, created a dilemma. The newly built wartime housing, as well as homes and schools, were destroyed in the ravenous waters, leaving many residents homeless and the city crippled. Some houses were able to be reattached to their foundations after taking a wild ride down the Columbia River, but others were not as lucky. Carpenters aided in reattaching broken foundations, rebuilding the city and providing relief to the individuals whose homes had been destroyed. The citizens of Vanport relied on the UBC to provide skilled and dedicated carpenters to re-erect their buildings. The UBC, however, went the extra mile and held Vanport on its strong shoulders, being its support when it was unable to find stability. When American cities suffered injury or required a friend to walk along side, the UBC was there. The UBC show true heroism as union members came together to repair the devastated city and rebuild the homes of the suffering people. It was this act of courage and undeniable love for their fellow man that illustrates the UBC’s trait of heroism.
Another depiction of the UBC’s heroism was its willingness to face and endure danger of pain. The Alaskan pipeline project was the stage where the heroism of the carpenters was again acted out. A union member tells of his duties as a carpenter on the project.
It became very cold there and our job was to build and maintain shelter for the welding. {…} if the pipe that was welded cooled too fast it would facture like glass. The extreme temperatures made this a challenge and we arose to the occasion. We also built the utility trenches for the electric and piping to run […] from building to building. We made the trenches out of 12” X 12” timbers and sealed them in marine mahogany plywood […] to keep the thaw water from getting in and then crushing the pipes when it froze. We also built buildings, ceiling tile’s, doors, hardware, and the likes, but besides the trenches our biggest job was making scaffolding for all the crafts to work on. (Howe)
UBC members were assigned the responsibility of building the shelters and scaffoldings that their brothers would later work atop. They weathered the extreme cold and harsh conditions of the Alaskan climate in place of their fellow tradesmen. They built shelters to enclose the pipes that their fellow laborers would work around. If these pipes were to break, the results would have been disastrous, putting their fellow trades in great danger. Sacrificing their bodies unselfishly to the bitter cold, and being dedicated to keeping the other trades safe, depicts the heroism of the carpenters.
The UBC’s most heartfelt display of heroism, however, was captured in an article posted on the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations website where it reported, “eighteen carpenters were killed in the World Trade Center attack, including one apprentice who was on his second day on the job. In the days following the attack, hundreds of carpenters from New York and the surrounding areas joined in the rescue and recovery efforts” (AFL-CIO). America had suffered a crippling blow; the first attack on American’s mainland. The heroism engrained into the minds of UBC members motivated them to grab onto America and hold on tight. They rushed to aid in the efforts of relief as they had done many times before, but this time was different. It wasn’t about building houses or keeping pipes from freezing, instead they were helping to rebuild lives and families and to keep hope from dying. America was in need of the UBC’s strong shoulder and friendship. The UBC became that friend and once again absolute heroism came shining through.
From the dawn of America’s independence the union carpenter has been a fundamental force in building the foundations and supports that our country desperately needed. When their brothers were in trouble, the UBC was there for support. When cities were facing turmoil, the UBC offered its compassion and talents to rebuild homes and neighborhoods. When the very nation was attacked, the UBC united together in brotherhood and dedicated themselves to the relief and recovery efforts. It is clear that the UBC’s embodiment of brotherhood, pride and heroism has been the rock on which its members have and will continue to stand. Only God knows the challenges that the future will bring, but one fact is for certain—the UBC and its members will continue to be dedicated to each other as well as the safety of the nation.
