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Vol 3, Issue 21

By Joe DiNicola, President, SEIU Local 503, OPEU

Nov 1, 2007

November is Labor History Month in Oregon. It's also the month to (really) turn our clocks back — and thanks to everyone who took the time to note my error in the last issue! Beginning in 2007, Congress moved the date to turn clocks back to the first Sunday in November.

In this issue of President Joe's Journal, SEIU Local 503, OPEU members at the Child Center celebrate a long-awaited victory. Everyone deserves access to quality and affordable health care and our union's community partners at Oregonians for Health Security work to make that vision a reality today. Almost 100 years ago one strong voice made a difference in labor history, and every member mourns the loss of one of our own in a tragedy in Eugene.

In this issue: Child Center Members Win Big Oregonians for Health Security One Strong Voice In Memoriam: Lucy Lahr

Child Center Members Win Big

SEIU Local 503, OPEU members at the Child Center in Eugene celebrated a contract victory in October. Workers won a 2.3% cost-of-living (COLA) raise retroactive to September 1. More significantly, the contract includes a new salary schedule with 2.5% raises between each step, and a one-step guarantee on each worker's anniversary date.

Child Center workers will also receive a $230 longevity bonus at five-year increments and increased mileage reimbursements. Fully-paid employee medical benefits will continue under the new agreement. For the first time, the union will get copies of all disciplinary notices.

SEIU Local 503, OPEU organizer Barbara Kellogg says, "For many years, our goal in bargaining has been to restructure the wage scale and secure guaranteed steps. This year, we finally did it. Child Center workers will get both cost of living raises and steps in 2008 for the first time!"

Located in Eugene, the Child Center is a non-profit human services agency that offers psychiatric and special education programs throughout Lane County. The Center provides services for children with severe emotional and mental disorders including Outpatient, Crisis, Day Treatment, Assessment and Referral, Pregnant Teen and keeps a Mobile Resource Library on the move.

According to the Child Center website, "Family involvement, as equal partners, is the very foundation of all treatment services we provide. Parents are involved in determining what treatment goals are priorities for them in family therapy and in their child's treatment plan."

Congratulations to workers at the Child Center in Eugene! Every SEIU Local 503, OPEU member values your dedication and commitment to serve the community and help build a better life for at-risk kids and families in Lane County.

Oregonians for Health Security

Oregonians for Health Security (OHS) has been a tremendous ally of SEIU Local 503, OPEU members for many years in our fight for quality, affordable and secure healthcare in Oregon. OHS unites working families, small business owners, seniors, health care workers, community leaders and policy makers to make each voice heard and take on powerful special interest groups in the healthcare industry.

According to Maribeth Healey, OHS Executive Director, "Insurance, pharmaceutical and hospital industry profits continue to soar and thousands of Oregonians can't get the health care that they need. There's something wrong with this picture." The OHS website makes it clear that any attempt to reform our broken health care system cannot succeed unless we have:

  • Quality health care for everyone with a choice of doctors and plans, without gaps in access or coverage;

  • Preventive care as part of any basic benefit plan to promote health and eliminate economic and racial disparities;

  • Controlled costs by providing care that is cost-efficient and medically effective; and

  • Financing that is fair with responsibility shared by employers, individuals, and government.

"We know that voters across Oregon continue to be concerned about the skyrocketing costs of health care," says Healey. "Health care is more than just a pocket book issue. It's about truly valuing our families."

Thank you Mary Beth and each of our coalition partners at Oregonians for Health Security. Together, we can turn the corner on health care and make a difference for everyone in our state.

One Strong Voice

On November 22, 1909, thousands of workers packed a New York City union hall for an International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU) meeting. Factory owners had been pressing for longer work days and lower pay. Hundreds of workers were already on strike, and the purpose of the November meeting was a call for a general strike.

The special guest speaker was the legendary American Federation of Labor (AFL) President, Samuel Gompers. The crowd was wildly enthusiastic in response to Gompers' speech. However, instead of a strike vote, speaker after speaker (mostly men) continued to urge caution from the podium. Finally, a young 19-year-old worker, Clara Lemlich, jumped up on the stage. Clara was one of the founders of ILGWU Local 25. A few months earlier, she had been badly beaten by hired thugs because of her union activities and suffered several broken ribs.

Clara energized the crowd. She shouted in Yiddish, "I want to say a few words. I have no further patience for talk as I am one of those who feels and suffers from the things pictured. I move that we go on a general strike — now!" The workers immediately voted for a strike.

The next day, more than 15,000 garment workers walked out on strike. Demands included a 20-percent pay raise, a 52-hour workweek and extra pay for overtime. Meetings were held in English and Yiddish at dozens of union halls to discuss strike plans. The following day, more than 20,000 workers from 500 factories were out on the picket line. Within two days, more than 70 of the smaller factories agreed to the union's demands.

Other factory owners responded with physical force and political pressure. Unwilling to back down, they were committed to break the strike. Police officers arrested strikers. Judges fined them and sentenced many to labor camps. One judge said, "You are striking against god and Nature, whose law is that man shall earn his bread by the sweat of his brow. You are on strike against God!"

An essential alliance was formed with the women's suffrage movement and workers raised much-needed financial support. Soon, the strike spread to Philadelphia where another 15,000 workers joined picket lines. One month after the strike began, the larger factories recognized that public opinion had turned against them and they finally offered a settlement. They agreed to increased pay and shorter work days, but they wouldn't agree to a contract with union security. The workers voted the offer down. They wanted a real union with solidarity and real power.

The strike was finally settled in February 1910. Re-hired strikers went back on the job with higher wages and shorter work hours. Unfortunately, the owners recognized the union in name only. Even worse, garment workers at New York's Triangle Factory went back to work without a union contract. Their demands, which included unlocked doors and functioning fire escapes, were not met. This led to the infamous tragedy of the "Triangle Shirtwaist Fire" the following year.

Clara Lemlich helped ILGWU Local 25 start the strike with only a few hundred workers. When the dust settled, they represented more than 20,000. Lemlich went on to become a full-time activist after being blacklisted by the garment industry association. She founded a working class suffrage group and later organized mothers to address housing and education issues. In her last days at a nursing home, Clara helped to organize the orderlies.

Clara Lemlich was one strong voice among many. She was in the right place at the right time, and she didn't hesitate. Clara sets an example for every worker and union member facing injustice. Her legacy reminds us: Stand together and act now!

In Memoriam: Lucy Lahr

SEIU Local 503, OPEU members all over Oregon celebrate the life and work of Lucy Lahr, longtime member and leader, community activist and DHS self-sufficiency program worker. Lucy and her partner were walking across a street in Eugene when they were struck by a hit-and-run driver. Lucy was killed and her partner seriously injured. Lucy is remembered as kind and caring and is missed by all who spent time with her.