Carpenters Local 247 June 2004 meeting report By Bruce Dennis President Above, Local 247 President Bruce Dennis swears in two new members in June. We had 135 members present for our Special Called June Meeting of Carpenters Local 247. All nominees had an opportunity to address the membership regarding their candidacy for office. Darell Duffy was re-elected as trustee and all our incumbent Regional Council Delegates were re-elected. Three alternates were elected as well. Delegates are: Joe Baron, Willie Gore, Pete Savage, Gene Lawhorn, Shaun Cushman, Steve Wright, Kevin Stokes, Bruce Dennis, Darell Duffy, Greg Aleshire, John Hahn, and Joe Whitney. Alternates are: John Svob, Andy Wagner, and Jason Delfel. Jim Murphy, Bruce Ashback, Stan Joseph and Eldon Middleton served as our ballot committee. Under reports we heard from former Financial Secretary Leo Larsen, who now chairs the Metro Retirees Group. He reported about a Gresham area church, which recently burned down. Many union carpenters volunteered on the church construction job. Our political organizer, Ed Glad, reported on Carpenters Local 1273 member Paul Holvey’s recent Eugene, Oregon, State Representative win and various other political topics. Our representatives and organizers reported on job starts and picket activity. Our Picnic Committee reported on a recommended site change to Camp Withycombe in the Clackamas area. The recommendation was accepted and passed by the membership. Training Director Doug Tweedy reported on the upcoming Bridge Builder skill advancement classes coming in July. Our Local Political Committee reported and recommended Joe Baron to assume the chairmanship of the committee. Under Good of the Order, the negotiations with Parr Lumber and the Teamsters were discussed at length. Under New Business there was a motion to send letters to contractors regarding purchasing lumber supplies at Parr. The motion was tabled until next month. There was also a motion passed to sponsor a Benson High School Building Construction contest winner’s trip to Virginia with $247. The meeting took way longer than usual, because of the elections. For more complete meeting information, attend your meetings.

Meeting Notices

General membership
Meets the second Tuesday, July 13, at 7 p.m. at the Carpenters Hall, 2215 N. Lombard, Portland.

Retirees
Retirees meet for lunch the second Monday, July 12, at 11 a.m. at JJ North’s, 10520 NE Halsey, Portland.

Executive Board
Executive Board meets the fourth Tuesday, July 27, at 7 p.m. at the Carpenters Hall, 2215 N. Lombard.

Scholarship available
Local 247 has a scholarship program available for members’ children and grandchildren. Guidelines are available at the office. Applications and labor history essays are due in the office by July 27, 2004. Please call or drop by the office for any questions or more information.

Carpenters Local 247 Picnic
Attention! Attention!
Carpenters
Local 247
Picnic
PLEASE NOTE!!! The Carpenters Local 247 annual picnic’s date and location has changed. This year’s picnic will be on Sunday, August 22, 2004 at Camp Withycombe in Clackamas, Oregon. This new location gives us more room, privacy and free parking. There will be lots of fun, food and activities for the whole family!! Be sure to mark the date on your calendar because it’s an event you won’t want to miss!! Invitations and additional information will be mailed out to all members sometime in the middle of July.

Corporate war against workers

By Gene Lawhorn
[Continued from the June 4 issue]

In Elaine, Arkansas, on Sept. 30, 1919, over 100 striking cotton pickers were massacred by U.S. troops and a vigilante group of the town’s leading citizens.

On May 19, 1920, Baldwin-Felts thugs arrived in Matewan, West Virginia, to evict striking coal miners from company-owned homes. In the showdown between sheriff Sid Hatfield and his deputies, seven thugs would be killed, including Albert and Lee Felts, brothers of the agency head, Tom Felts. Three deputies were killed, including the mayor of Matewan. On Aug. 1, 1921, Sid Hatfield and deputy Ed Chambers were executed on the Welch County courthouse steps in front of their wives by Baldwin-Felts death squad agents. This was the spark which prompted an armed march on Logan County by 15,000 to 20,000 miners from West Virginia and the surrounding states. In what is known as the Battle of Blair Mountain, all the force of the U.S. Army and corporate death squads were brought down on the revolting miners. For the first time in U.S. history, the U.S. Army used planes to drop bombs on its own citizens fighting corporate tyranny here at home.

On March 7, 1932, Henry Ford’s private police, who had no rivals in the realm of violence and brutality, opened fire on a crowd of peaceful unemployed Ford factory workers, killing four and wounding 24. This was known as the Ford Hunger Massacre.

On May 30, 1937 occurred what we call the Memorial Day Massacre. The Chicago Police opened fire on a peaceful crowd of striking Republic Steel workers, killing 10, and wounding over 40, then proceeded to severely beat another 60 with clubs. What I’ve outlined for you here is just a few examples of the corporate class war against American workers. Beside the blatant violence of openly shooting strikers, workers also found themselves fighting injunctions decreed by judges making laws only for the benefit of their corporate class masters.

— To be continued