The Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters recently held their three-day annual meeting in Portland Aug. 3-5, 2000. The meeting began with a short address by General President Doug McCarron. President McCarron reported on the status of organizing across the nation. We now have over 500 organizers working to get the union message to all carpenters. We also heard from Seventh and Eighth District Board Member Mike Draper.
On Friday night we had a charity auction in which over $9,000 was raised to be divided between Labor’s Community Services and the “Kids of Steel,” which is a charity benefiting the kids of the striking Kaiser Steelworkers.
The election of officers was held for the next term of four years. Executive Secretary-Treasurer John Steffens of Local 1532 in Anacortes, Wash., was re-elected. Bruce Dennis of Local 247 in Portland, Ore., was also re-elected as council president. Other officers elected were: Vice President, Joel Dressler of Local 131 in Seattle, Wash.; Warden, Mike Boysza of Local 112 in Butte Mont.; and Conductor, Tom Flynn of Local 78 in Spokane, Wash. Oregon delegates re-elected Bill Christoferson of Local 1273 in Eugene, Ore., and four new Executive Board members: Jerry Auvil of Local 2154 in Portland; John Schraner of Local 1388 in Oregon City; Hank Mroczkowski of Local 190 in Klamath Falls; and our own Chet Caruthers of Local 247.
Christine Kern's quilt with a Local patch within our District will be auctioned at the November quarterly meeting of the Pacific Northwet Regional Council of Carpenters.
Actions taken include setting aside $3 per council member to fight two regressive Oregon ballot measures, measures 92 and 98. A motion was made to establish a committee to advocate certification of carpenters. Another motion provides for one council meeting per year in either Idaho or Montana. For more details, attend our 247 meetings and/or talk to your delegates.
Civic organizations, non-profits and charities are seeing Bill Sizemore’s measures 92 and 98 for what they really are — attacks on the rights of organizations to speak with a collective voice and to participate in the political process on behalf of those they represent. Within the last three weeks, the following organizations have come out in opposition to both measures:
Oregon PTA, Oregon Common Cause, Gray Panthers, Community Alliance of Tenants, Pacific Rivers Council, Oregon League of Conservation Voters, and United Seniors of Oregon.
Constitutional Amendment Measure 92 would prohibit the use of payroll-deducted funds for a wide range of political activity and expression — from supporting or opposing candidates or ballot measures to lobbying elected officials — unless authorized in writing every year by each affected employee. Even writing a letter to a legislator would be treated as a political expenditure by this measure.
Constitutional Amendment Measure 98 is a more extreme version of Sizemore’s Measure 59, which the voters rejected in 1998. It would prohibit the use of public resources, including payroll-deducted funds, for the same range of political activity and expression described in Measure 92 — from supporting or opposing candidates or ballot measures to lobbying elected officials. This is an outright ban on using payroll-deducted funds for political advocacy.
General membership
Meets the second Tuesday, Sept. 12, at 7 p.m. at the Carpenters Hall, 2202 N. Lombard, Portland.
Mentors Network
Mentors Network meets second Tuesday, Sept. 12, at 6 p.m. at the Carpenters Hall, 2202 N. Lombard, Portland.
Retirees
Retirees meet for lunch the second Monday, Sept. 11, at 11 a.m. at JJ North’s, 10520 NE Halsey, Portland.
Executive Board
Executive Board meets the fourth Tuesday, Sept. 26, at 7 p.m. at the Carpenters Hall, 2202 N Lombard, Portland.
Labor Day Picnic
The annual Labor Day Picnic is coming up. The picnic, sponsored by Northwest Oregon Labor Council, will take place 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Sept. 4.
The picnic was well attended and lots of fun. All members who attended received a 247 Millennium Picnic commemorative pin. Years of Service Pins were also awarded to several members. Grady B. Atkeson and Ervin Flick received their 55-year pins; Herbert C. Meier, Carl E. Ruddell and Edwin I. McCoy received their 50-year pins; Merle J. Ehlinger received his 45-year pin; Dennis E. Murdock received his 40-year pin, and many others received service pins for between 5 years and 35 years. Several kids’ games provided lots of fun and entertainment for all. Sam Bam Boom provided a wide variety of mood music from 11 until 2 p.m. Our annual fundraiser for Doernbecher Children’s Hospital was also a big success. We sold sweepstakes raffle tickets totaling almost $2,200, which will be presented to a Doernbecher’s representative at our September regular meeting. The contractors, Local 247, Regional Council, and several individuals donated gifts for the sweepstakes raffle. Everything went well. The food was good and your picnic committee deserves all the credit. Willie Gore is Chairman of the picnic committee. THANKS, WILLIE, and all the committee members and helpers. The only complaint I heard was that we had TOO MANY activities and PRIZES for the time allotted. Any suggestions for improving our annual picnic would be appreciated.
