AFSCMELOCAL 88

www.afscmelocal88.org503-239-9858 • 1-800-792-0045

6025 E Burnside, Portland, OR 97215

PAGE 6 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS JANUARY 6, 2011

General Membership meets 6p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 18, for a can-didate forum, followed by constiu-tional change and nominations.There is no stewards’ meeting.

Executive Board meets 6:15 p.m.Wednesday, Feb. 1.

Oregon AFSCME Retirees meet10 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 17. CallMichael Arken for info: 1-800-521-5954, x226.

Meetings take place at the AFSCMEoffice, 6025 E. Burnside, Portland.

AFSCME Local 88 Calendar

On Jan. 5, Commissioner Jeff Co-gan was expected to ask the Mult-

nomah County Board of Commission-ers to refer a three-year extension of thecurrent 89 cent library property tax levyto the May 2012 ballot and wait toplace the question of a permanent li-brary district before voters until a futuredate.Chair Cogen believes this approach

gives Multnomah County the best op-portunity to avoid devastating cuts tothe libraries if a ballot measure for a li-brary district were to fail in May. TheCounty commissioners reached thisconclusion after learning in Novemberthat a ballot rejection could cost up to300 jobs and lead to the closure of mostlibrary branches. Political consultantsand pollsters with expertise in this fieldbelieve that an increased $1.24 levy anda $1.19 district were simply not viablefor taxpayers in this economic climate,and an 89 cent levy is our only optionfor the May 2012 ballot.Local 88 is already assessing the im-

pact of a 89 cent levy and will be work-ing hard to keep cuts to library servicesto a minimum and save as many jobsas possible.

“By itself an 89 cent levy wouldmean 21 to 24 percent cuts to the li-brary,” said Local 88 president MichaelHanna, “but we have been in discus-sions with the Chair’s Office about waysto allocate additional County fundsinto the Library Fund so that cuts arekept down to 10 percent.”The way to avoid this situation in

the future is to secure stable, long-termfunding, and that means a library dis-trict. “I know some people have been

worried about the change to a LibraryDistrict, but I think this situationdemonstrates clearly what happens inthe current model without a stablefunding source of a district,” Hannasaid. “If we lay the groundwork now,work with the County Commissioners,the City of Portland, and our sister andbrother unions, we can pass a fullyfunded district.” “Remember, we have a Union. We

will join together to save as many jobsand services as possible, and keep thisLibrary system running as best we canuntil we have full funding in the future.As individuals it feels overwhelming,but as a Union, we can and will getthrough this” Hanna said.

Therefore, Local 88 will be workingvery hard to pass the levy. As terrible asthe 89 cent levy seems, it still must passon the May 2012 ballot. It will take thecombined efforts of all members to vol-unteer time and make this happen.The library campaign will have manyways for members to plug in and help,so stay tuned for more information onthe important issue facing our commu-nity.According to the library website, the

two main sources of funding for libraryservices are the five-year local option li-brary levy passed in 2006, which pro-vides 66 percent, and the MultnomahCounty general fund, which provides24 percent. The remaining 10 percentcomes from a variety of non-tax sources(fees, fines, grants, etc.) The concern isthat the current system of Library fund-ing is not sustainable due to Mult-nomah County’s structural budgetdeficit, property tax compression andthe need to renew the levy every threeto five years. With the passage of Meas-ure 26-114 in November 2010, theboard of county commissioners is nowable to forward a measure to the ballotto permanently change how the libraryis funded.

At the January 18general membershipmeeting …Change to the union constitutionA member has given notice that at the January 18, 2012 meeting they willread a proposed change to the AFSCME Local 88 Constitution, Article IV- Membership and Dues. Any proposed changes will be debated andamended and would need to be voted on the following month, February2012. The full Constitution can be located on the Local 88 website here:afscmelocal88.org/local-88-2/constitution-bylaws.

County commissioner candidate forumLocal 88 will hold a candidate forum for the candidates for County Com-missioner District 1 (currently held by Deborah Kafoury) and District At-torney (currently held by Mike Schrunk)

Nominations for vacant E-Board positionsLocal 88 currently has two vacant Executive Board positions. We will takenominations at the Jan. 18, 2012, general membership meeting. The po-sitions are the following:

Public safety sector (1 vacancy)Member must work in the Sheriff's Office, Department of CommunityJustice or District Attorney’s Office.

General government and library sector (1 vacancy) Member must work in the Department of County Management, Depart-ment of County Assets, Department of Community Services, or Non-De-partmental (not Library, since those positions are already filled).

Update on Library Funding

Local 88 held its holiday party openhouse at the AFSCME Portlandoffice on Dec 8. More than 70 mem-bers and guests representing all countydepartments attended during the two-hour event. Party guests included

Santa Claus, Chair Jeff Cogen,County Auditor Steve March, BeckieLee (Chief of Staff for CommissionerKafoury), Chris Warner (Chief ofStaff for Commissioner Smith), andRod Underhill, who is from the dis-trict attorney’s office and is a candidate

for district attorney. Judy Shiprackand Diane McKeel could not make it,but sent their regards.Appetizers and beverages were en-

joyed during the event while holidaymusic played and door prize ticketswere drawn. The door prize drawing

started off with a laugh as Chair Co-gen drew the first ticket from the bas-ket. When no one claimed the num-ber, he checked the ticket he held andit was the winner. Not rigged, we canassure you, just a very funny coinci-dence.

At 7 p.m., Local 88 PresidentMichael Hanna and AFSCME StaffRepresentative Bryan Lally raised atoast to the new contract signed be-tween the Union and MultnomahCounty. Noted were the outstand-ing work by Rachel Gumpert, tem-porarily employed as our MemberAction Coordinator, the contractbargaining team and the hundreds ofLocal 88 members who actively en-gaged in supporting the contract ne-gotiating team. Special thanks to our party coor-

dinators Jackie Tate, Nicole Newsomand Susan Palmer. Also thanks toHugh Singh, who managed the bev-erage table and the many memberswho showed up early to decorate theroom and help set up the food andthose members who helped clean upafter the party. It was a fun evening with mem-

bers visiting with old acquaintancesand meeting new people from de-partments all across the county. Ifyou couldn’t attend this year, we hopeto see you at upcoming membershipmeetings and next year’s holidayparty.

Toast to a great holiday open house

Vol. 113, No. 1 Portland, Oregon January 6, 2011

Official Publication of AFSCME Local 88

Page 6

LABOR

PRESS&

AFSCME 88page

NORTHWEST

Volume 113Number 1Jan. 6, 2012Portland, Oregon

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InsideInside Meeting NoticesMeeting Notices

Some of the more than three dozen volunteers at the Presents forPartners holiday party included from left to right: NOLC secretaryKaren Carlson, LCSA Executive Director Vickie Burns, Santa Claus(played by Dave Williams of IBEW Local 48), Gina Whitlow of theIBEW and United Workers Federal Credit Union, and Thea Staytonand Becky Wright of the Portland Federation of School ProfessionalsLocal 111. The kids are Stirling and Vida Walker.

Votes for earlyendorsement ofBrad Avakian forlabor commissionerSuzanne Bonamici, Democratic

nominee in the special election con-gressional race in Oregon’s 1st District,has added several labor organizationsto her list of endorsers. The specialelection to succeed Democrat DavidWu, who resigned mid-term, is Jan. 31.

Her opponent is tea party RepublicanRob Cornilles.Bonamici’s latest labor endorsement

came Dec. 16 from the Oregon AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education(COPE). The state labor federation rep-resents over 225,000 workers in Ore-gon, with 15,000 affiliated union mem-bers in the 1st District.Bonamici, a state senator from

Beaverton, was the top vote-getter in aspecial primary election held lastmonth. Her primary opponents wereState Rep. Brad Witt and Labor Com-

missioner Brad Avakian. Witt is a for-mer secretary-treasurer of the OregonAFL-CIO and current union rep forUnited Food and Commercial WorkersLocal 555. Both Brads have since en-dorsed Bonamici.AFL-CIO unions backing Bonam-

ici include the Oregon State Fire Fight-ers Council; Oregon Nurses Associa-tion; Oregon School EmployeesAssociation (OSEA)-American Feder-ation of Teachers (AFT); Oregon AF-SCME Council 75; OSEA-AFT Local

Labor’s Community ServiceAgency (LCSA) and the NorthwestOregon Labor Council held their an-nual “Presents from Partners” holi-day party for children of out-of-work union members Dec. 17 at theSheet Metal Workers union hall inNortheast Portland.More than 300 kids — boys,

girls, tweens, teens, and toddlers —participated, with each receivingfour toys each, including some bicy-cles. Families also enjoyed a cateredlunch and pictures with Santa Claus.Union organizations, members,

unionized businesses and profes-sionals that work with unions do-nated toys and cash for the event,said LCSA Executive DirectorVickie Burns.“The outpouring of support this

holiday season was a gift from andfor working people and organizedlabor,” Burns said. “It was a displayof solidarity, an inspiration, and a re-sounding success.”Leftover toys were donated to Toy & Joy and went to out-of-work mil-

itary families. Those arrangements were made through LCSA’s contactswith Hire Oregon Vets and Oregon National Guard.

Mayda Mosqueda, 8, gets readyto ride off on her new bicycle. Sheis the daughter of JavierMosqueda, a member of GlassWorkers Local 740.

AFL-CIO supports Bonamici in CD #1

Labor’s ‘Presents from Partners’brightens the holidays for hundreds

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YEAR IN REVIEW:YEAR IN REVIEW:Top labor stories of 2011

By DON McINTOSHAssociate Editor

2011 was Year Three of the GreatRecession, but it may be rememberedas Year One of the Great Fightback byworking people.On Feb. 15 — four days after peace-

ful demonstrations in Cairo toppled adictator — an America uprising began,with mass protests at state capitols,starting in Madison, Wisconsin. OnSept. 17, the movement re-erupted, withan “Occupy Wall Street” protest in NewYork City that within two weeks hadspread worldwide.If the mood is surlier than ever, it

may be because the economy isn’tworking out for working people. In theUnited States, official unemploymentwas at 8.6 percent in November, downjust 1.2 percentage points from a yearbefore. Bankers binged on mortgage-backed securities, but workers have suf-fered the resulting hangover.Continued U.S. joblessness is also

brought on by a long-term offshoring ofproduction. America’s trade deficit wastopping $540 billion by year’s end —$40 billion more than 2010 — and pollssay a majority of Americans think U.S.trade policy is broken. But Congressratified three more NAFTA-style tradedeals in October — with Korea,Panama, and Colombia. The treaties,negotiated in the Bush years, werepushed to a vote by President Obama.Meanwhile, wages are stagnant, reg-

ular unleaded is selling for $3.25 a gal-lon, and health care is more expensive

than ever: Average annual premiums foremployer-provided full family healthinsurance passed the $15,000 mark in2011. Still, for organized labor, 2011 was a

vindication. In Wisconsin, teachersstruck, Democratic legislators fled, andcrowds of up to 100,000 turned out —all to oppose a Republican governor’splan to strip public workers of theirunion rights. “Collective bargaining”might have seemed an unlikely cause ayear before, but by the end of February,pollsters were finding that 77 percent ofAmericans think public employeesshould have the same union rights as

private sector workers. In a matter ofweeks, the “Spirit of Wisconsin” spreadto every state capitol, as Americans,mostly nonunion, turned out in solidar-ity with beleaguered unionists under theslogan “We are One” and “We are allWisconsin.”By late October, “I am the 99 per-

cent” had replaced those slogans as themantra of a popular movement, andeven tiny Mosier, Oregon, population421, had an “occupation.” Campersaround the country were mostly roustedby local police, but participants demon-strated a new appetite for disrupting

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The “Spirit of Wisconsin” spread nationally, including this rally in Portlandon Feb. 25, as workers fought to maintain their right to collective bargaining.