Going on the Offensive
In Oregon, Labor counterattacks right-wing extremists.
PORTLAND, OREGON
Donna Danner is having the time of her life. The Local 328 (Council 75) executive board member is leading the charge as Oregon Labor fights to stop the radical right-wing rampage through their state. It’s a lot of work and stretches Danner to the limits of her energy and creativity, but it’s also a lot of fun.
In 1994, the members of AFSCME Council 75 learned a painful lesson: To wake up and smell the politics. The lesson came from an initiative on the state’s ballot that cut public workers’ take-home pay by 6 percent.
Council officers and staff poured all their best efforts into fighting the initiative, but AFSCME members just didn’t believe Oregon’s voters would support the measure. They were wrong. The initiative passed.
This year right-wing activist Grover Norquist and Republican candidate for governor Bill Sizemore got set to take another chunk out of Oregon’s workers with “Paycheck Deception,” but it was a different ballgame.
NOT BUSINESS AS USUAL. AFSCME truth squads went toe to toe with signature gatherers, questioning them about the ballot measure and making potential signers think twice.
For Local 3580 (Council 75) members who work at METRO it was personal. In addition to “Paycheck Deception,” Sizemore was pushing an initiative designed to eliminate their agency that administers programs for a consortium of counties.
Tim Collins and Chuck Geyer, the local’s political action committee chair and co-chair, organized members to slow the signature gathering. They did so well, says Local 3580 Pres. Ron Sarver, “that Sizemore’s political advisors came up from California and refused to work further on the METRO petitions.” That initiative died.
A GOOD OFFENSE. But defensive action was not enough. Members decided to go on the offensive. They drafted their own initiative, the Open & Fair Elections Act. It protects the political rights of workers — particularly public workers — and orders candidates to disclose all major contributions during the campaign while the information can help voters.
The battle to qualify the initiative for November’s ballot was hard but victorious. The AFSCME activists were up early. They met with co-workers and members of other unions — on breaks, at lunch, before and after work. They hung out at farmers’ markets, in shopping malls, outside grocery stores — everywhere they could collect supporting signatures. They re-invigorated their union, and they had fun.
Local 189 (Council 75) Pres. John Hamilton is very proud of how the unions have communicated with each other during this battle. At Portland’s Bureau of Licenses, members of his local worked closely with members of Local 88 (Council 75). Even management has supported “Open & Fair.”
Signature gathering champion Danner clocked in with almost 1,000 signatures. “There are a lot of construction workers on the campus,” she says. She signed them up on her lunch period. “I got managers and people on the bus. I went out on the parking lot. At lunch, I just walked through the cafeteria and targeted a table.” She’d tell those at the table about the importance of the initiative and pick up 10 to 12 signatures.
Oregon’s AFSCME members have really learned their lesson. And it’s one they will not soon forget. On to November.
By Susan Ellen Holleran
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It's My Party Hermann Green is a corrections sergeant, treasurer and steward in Local 3941 (Council 75) and a Republican. He hasn't always felt politically accepted by his local although he totally supports its positions on workplace issues. But Green has at last bridged the gap. In March, at the Council 75 convention, Green and a group of fellow Republicans founded the AFSCME Republican Caucus — with full backing from the council. The formation of the caucus was announced in the council's AFSCME Alert, according to Green, and he received about 30 responses. "Evidently, I had struck a chord. "Traditionally unions have been dealing with the Democrats because there was a like-mindedness on social and worker issues," says Green who feels there is a real need to involve Republican AFSCME members in the political process. "We can be union; we can be concerned about the rights of our members; and we can still be Republicans," says Green. He sees the caucus as an opportunity to reach out to the state's Republican legislators. "This is just another avenue with which to express our opinions, with which to flex our muscles." |
