nwlaborpress.org | March 21, 2008

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March 21, 2008 Volume 109 Number 6

Labor against the war
Left, Oregon AFL-CIO President Tom Chamberlain, flanked by union members opposed to the war in Iraq, spoke at a March 15 peace rally in Portland to mark the fifth anniversary of the start of the current war in Iraq. “Billions of dollars that should have funded health care for all, that should have rebuilt this country and provided good jobs for working families, have instead gone for war,” Chamberlain told protesters.

Gardner resigns as labor commissioner. Governor appoints Brad Avakian
Oregon Labor Commissioner Dan Gardner announced March 12 that he will resign effective April 7 —15 months into his second four-year term of office. A day later, Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski announced he will appoint State Sen. Brad Avakian (D-Bethany) to fill the vacancy.
IBEW launches union campaign at Comcast
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers announced March 12 that it will try to unionize telecommunications giant Comcast. And the union is trying a new approach — a “virtual” campaign.
Union electricians, contractors come to the aid of family of fallen soldier
Nearly two dozen members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 48 volunteered a Saturday to wire a house being built for the family of a Vancouver soldier killed in Iraq. Jeremiah Johnson, a 2001 graduate of Prairie High School, died Jan. 5, 2007 — 10 days after a Humvee he and two other soldiers were riding in crashed into a canal in Baghdad.
Portland school board members show true colors in contract vote
It was never clear how many school board members agreed with Portland Public Schools when, for months, the district demanded pay cuts of up to 30 percent from the district's long-suffering custodians. But some of the board members showed their colors when the agreement went before them for ratification. Three of the seven voted against the contract, arguing that the district was too generous.
Oregon AFSCME backs Obama
Oregon AFSCME Council 75 endorsed Barack Obama for president at its March 15 Executive Board meeting in Portland. The vote was 60 to 4. The action in Oregon breaks ranks with the international union, which endorsed Hillary Clinton.
Promoting ‘green collar’ jobs is focus of LERC’s new STAR Fund
Up to six union members will be taking a three-day field trip to California this summer to study local efforts to promote what are being called "green collar" jobs — jobs that come out of efforts to combat environmental ills like global warming.