Carpenters Local 247 August 2003 meeting report In the foreground, left to right, Financial Secretary Pete Savage Helen Garland and Karen LaVoie thank members for their donation to Doernbecher at the August meeting. By Bruce Dennis President We had an interesting meeting in August with 60 members in attendance. Karen LaVoie and Helen Garland attended on behalf of Doernbecher Children’s Hospital and were presented with a check from Local 247 for $1,000. We also had four representatives from the Oregon Public Power Coalition. They are advocating the establishment of a Public Utility District in the Portland area. There were several questions following the presentation. Local 247 has endorsed the concept of a Public Utility District and agreed to contribute $500 to the effort. Under Reports we had Delegates reporting about the annual meeting of the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters. Trustee Bob Hanson came to the meeting and reported about our benefits plans. He also took a variety of questions. We had our usual Representative and Organizer reports, a picnic report, and our detailed report of receipts and expenses. Under new business Local 247 Warden and Delegate Gene Lawhorn was nominated for the Emory Via Labor History Award. There was also a motion to send Thank you letters to all the members who were involved in the signing of a new contractor, Structured Systems. The members were also sent a certificate for a Local 247 T-shirt. It was reported earlier in the meeting that these members were instrumental in bringing the contractor to our Union. There were several other motions and some discussion under “Good of the Order.” For more comprehensive, complete information ….. ATTEND YOUR MEETINGS!!!

Meeting Notices

General membership
Meets the second Tuesday, Sept. 9, at 7 p.m. at the Carpenters Hall, 2215 N. Lombard, Portland. Jim Francesconi, City Commissioner and candidate for Mayor of Portland, will be in attendance to address the membership. Sausage and sauerkraut will be served in observance of Oktoberfest.

Retirees
Retirees meet for lunch the second Monday, Sept. 8, at 11 a.m. at JJ North’s, 10520 NE Halsey, Portland.

Executive Board
Executive Board meets the fourth Tuesday, Sept. 23, at 7 p.m. at the Carpenters Hall, 2215 N. Lombard.

Historic building renovation begins — Carpenters needed!
The renovation of the historic West’s Block Building at 701 SE Grand Avenue has started and the Carpenters are helping to make that happen. West’s Block, built in 1883, is the oldest commercial building in Portland’s Central Eastside; it is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and is located on a very visible corner in the Grand Avenue Historic District. The building is owned by the Bosco-Milligan Foundation, a non-profit historic preservation education organization.

When renovation is completed, the building will house the Architectural Heritage Center that will include: two galleries for exhibition of the Foundation’s 40,000 of historic building artifacts, two workshop/classroom spaces, and a building-related research library. Since 1992, the Bosco-Milligan Foundation has presented 142 historic preservation programs, serving the needs of nearly 34,000 people.

The Foundation has also served 700 third-grade students in North/Northeast Portland with its “Homeworks” program, a five-week series that teaches children about building construction and design, ending with a walking tour near each school.
The Architectural Heritage Center is really all about the history of the building trades and industry, and carpentry is “front and center” in our history. Every imaginable building element ever made using Northwest woods is represented in the Foundation’s Collections.

There will be plenty of opportunities for Saturday “Work Parties” for Carpenters of every interest. This is a Union job and our participation is very important. Stay tuned to your Union Newsletter for more information!

WTO and the building trades
The World Trade Organization is looking to attack construction workers and democracy.

Current WTO trade agreements being negotiated would treat laws like the Davis-Bacon act — the prevailing wage law — as an unfair barrier to trade, and thus subject to overrule.

The WTO is a direct assault on the democratic process that working people have used to gain health and safety laws, prevailing wage laws, etc. It looks to overrule the democratic process of a nation to put profits above all else.

Global day of action
against the WTO
September 13
Portland’s Holladay Park
NE Multnomah and 12th
Rally at noon, march at 1 p.m.

Dues reminder
Any member who is taking advantage of reduced quarterly dues must have their Third Quarter dues payment into the office no later than Sept. 30, 2003. The Fourth Quarter payment will pay for your dues for the months of October, November and December. If you are currently not taking advantage of this option and wish to do so, please send your payment into the office before the due date. However, you must have your dues paid through September in order to take advantage of this discount. The reduced rates are as follows: Journeyman - $66.00, Apprentice - $42.00, Tradeshow - $48.00.

Carpenters Local 247 picnic raises funds for Doernbecher

A charity raffle at the Carpenters Local 247 annual picnic July 27 benefited Doernbecher Children’s Hospital and also the Sean Harkin Memorial Sick and Injured Fund at the local Union. The raffle had four prizes. Phil Knuth won the grand prize of a $3,000 vacation voucher, Kim McElwee from the IBEW and United Workers Credit Union won $750 cash, Robinson Construction won $500 cash, and Local 247 member Mary Schneider won $250 cash. The Local 247 Sean Harkin Memorial Sick and Injured Fund was set up last year to help members who are unable to work because of sickness or a non-work related injury. Sean Harkin was a dedicated supporter of the Union and the fund who sadly passed away recently from a heart attack while kayaking. The fund was recently renamed in his honor. Local 247 intends to continue supporting Doernbecher Children’s Hospital as well as the Sean Harkin Memorial Sick and Injured Fund.

Above, kids take part in the watermelon-eating contest at Local 247’s annual picnic. Below, grownups try their hand at the nail-driving contest.

Local 247 wishes to thank the following contractors and businesses for their support of the charity fundraising. American Income Life B. J. Cummings Pacific Northwest Labor History Association Exterior & Interior Specialists Local 2154 Northwest Labor Press Hoffman Structures Inc. J.E. Dunn Construction IBEW & United Workers Federal Credit Union Perlo/McCormack Pacific Cooper Construction Robinson Construction Robertson, Hay & Wallace Nite Hawk Café Sunbelt Rentals Willamette Carpenters Training Center Approximately 830 members and family members were in attendance at the picnic, which was held at Blue Lake Park in Fairview, north of Gresham. Members were awarded their pins for years of service as Union members. Activities included children’s games, swimming, boating, bingo, apprentice raffle, pie and watermelon eating contests, good food and fellowship.

Coming to the Union meeting

By Joe Whitney
Delegate Local 247

About two years ago I wrote an article in The Measure (this newsletter) giving several pros and cons on the subject of members of Local 247 attending their Local Union meetings, and I have to admit that there were a lot more pros than there were cons. Well, two years later I would like to reiterate that those who come are those who are informed, not only about what’s going on in our Local, but what’s going on regionally. I would probably be the first to admit that sometimes, the meetings run a little long, and yes, they can run a little on the boring side, but not always. What I really want to point out is these meetings concern your future and the future of your family, and they can be fun. Did you know that we are provided dinner every meeting? The girls (Dawn and Sherri) make sure that we eat pretty well, and the refrigerator is always full of pop, water and the like. Also, The Measure (this 247 insert in the Northwest Labor Press) will let you know if perhaps it will be a Bar-B-Q night, steak and chicken, or even a spaghetti feed. Maybe it’s a Hawaiian shirt contest night, but more less a social event with a lot of information that not only can help keep you employed, but reunited with old friends and people that you might not have seen for awhile.

Are you thinking, “I can’t go? Who is going to watch my kids?” Well, bring them along. There are games and toys and other kids. My own daughter, Cami, has attended every meeting for the last nine months, and you know what? It’s her idea to come. (It might be something to do with the fact that every kid there gets a raffle ticket, and every kid wins a toy at the end of the meeting.) We also have a raffle every meeting night for the members. I personally have won a reciprocating saw, turkeys, T-shirts, hats, plumb bobs, and various other prizes.

Maybe you’re thinking that because I’m a delegate, I have to go. Well that’s where you are wrong. I want to go!!!! I like to know what’s going on in my Local and I like to know what’s going on in our area. I want to know where the work is. I want to know where the work is going to be in the near future. I like to know what’s going on politically, what’s happening with our Trust, our Health and Welfare, where my money is going, what’s happening with the Organizing department. I want to know these things because I am a family man and I want to provide for my wife and kids in the best way that I can. To do that, I need to be well informed.

Are you aware that the members that attend the meetings make a lot of decisions that concern your future? We vote on a lot of issues and we pass the majority of them, and if you are not there to make your voice heard, the Brothers and Sisters that are attending decide for you. Maybe you think, “That’s not fair.” But we are a democracy and the majority rules, so you are letting us make those decisions that you may or may not like.

We also have a very strong political agenda that reports to us, and with our help, we probably turned the tide in the last election. Did you notice that we have several politicians that are labor-friendly now? We also have business agents from areas all around Portland giving reports on what is going on around us. We have organizing people there to let us know what is happened with Market Recovery, or what they are doing to get more contractors to go Union. We have people from the trusts, Executive Committee, Regional Council and others making us a very well-informed bunch of Carpenters. There are incentives like Carhartt jackets to everyone that attends 11 out of 12 meetings in a fiscal year, and scholarships available that you won’t know about unless you come.

All in all, your Local meetings are a very important part of your life; maybe you just don’t know it. This last month, we had Local Delegate reports; these are representatives that you elected to represent you at the Regional Council Meetings. Maybe you didn’t elect me, but the members that came did. And this month, the second Tuesday at 7 p.m. we are going to have Tim DeGan, our Regional Manager, and it’s Tim’s idea to be there, he knows we all have a lot of questions that he is best able to answer.

For those of you who took the time to read this, thanks. For those of you that read this and haven’t been to a meeting in a while … come, bring the kids, bring an appetite, bring some insight to the rest of us and take home with you some good information. See some old friends, and you never know, you might win a prize in the raffle, because if you don’t come, someone else that did will win it. Local 247 has our meetings the second Tuesday of every month, and if you need directions our number is 503-289-9632.

Hope to see you there!!

Savage wins scholarship; where are the rest?

By Bruce Ashback
Scholarship Committee Chairman

Congratulations to Erik Savage, who is the winner of our scholarship this year!

On the other hand, I guess it’s safe to assume that all of you other mothers and fathers are making plenty of money to pay for your kids’ college education, since we didn’t receive any other entries for the scholarship. This is the second year in a row that we have only received one entry.