OREGON AFSCME

e-lert #4 ¥ Feb. 26, 2010

Edited by Don Loving, Council 75 Public Affairs Director

It's safe to return to Salem now, the legislators have left the building ... but not without arguing over whether or not they should routinely return every year. Ultimately, you'll get to vote on that idea come Nov. 2. We highlight some other odds and ends as well, plus, sadly, bring you news of the passing of two members of our AFSCME family.

* * *

ANNUAL SESSIONS? — This year's Special Session ended a day early, and would have finished up Wednesday had Democrats and Republicans not gotten into a haggle about the whole issue of annual sessions. Early in the week a measure was apparently in place that had broad support from both parties. That passed the Senate, but House Democrats wanted 165 days to do business in odd-numbered years, up from the proposed 135 days. The original plan called for 45 days in even-numbered years.

While the final compromise isn't all that different when you add up the total days over two years, the bill that passed — 160 days in odd-numbered years and 35 days in even-numbered years — lost most Republican support in both chambers. It is a referral measure that will go to voters this November.

Oregon is one of just five states that does not hold annual legislative sessions. That forces lawmakers to crystal ball gaze two years out when planning budgets. Legislators have called themselves into special session in both 2008 and 2010 to tinker and rebalance budgets; of course, when the Legislature is convened it can also do other business. This year's session dealt with about 100 bills.

The AFSCME lobbying corps is fairly ambivalent about the idea of annual sessions in whatever guise they take on. The Council 75 Political Action Committee and Executive Board will have the final say on whether to endorse, oppose or take no action on the issue later in the year before the Nov. 2 General Election.

* * *

SO WHAT DID THEY DO THIS TIME? — Most of the "action" from the 2010 Special Session has been covered in previous e-lerts; other than finalizing previously announced budget balances and the fight over the annual session referral, there has not been much news since our last missive on Feb. 19.

Council 75 Political Coordinator Joe Baessler says there was ultimately no action on his two key areas of concern, elections and campaign finance reform. Various ideas were kicked around on both topics, AFSCME will either be involved in or monitor some interim committees on the subjects and you can expect more on both topics come 2011.

Janice O'Malley was one for two on her two big issues of the special session. As reported last week, we scored a big win for child care providers when the Employment-Related Day Care (ERDC) budget within the Department of Human Services received $12.8 million in funding, reaching the target goal set by advocates. O'Malley is disappointed that SB 1032, which would have banned BPAs (bisphenol A) from bottles, "sippy cups" and formula canisters in Oregon did not pass. She expects further debate on that issue in the 2011 session.

Ralph Groener, the union's lead lobbyist on revenue issues, spent most of the session monitoring the various budget hearings and is relatively happy with the results. While some AFSCME-represented agencies took some budget hits, they were in areas that will not cost current members' jobs. But Groener is already fretting over the 2011-13 budget, as early indications are the state will see another steep shortfall in revenue.

Senior Political Coordinator Mary Botkin had the most actual bills to track during the February session. Perhaps the biggest was the override of the governor's veto of SB 897, the PERS-related bill we reported on extensively earlier. Another PERS bill, HB 3684, died in committee. It would have re-opened the issue of taxing PERS benefits, in this case specifically for retirees who move out-of-state. That issue may be revisited in 2011.

Here are highlights of other bills Botkin was tracking ...

SB 1045 has passed both the Senate and the House. It eliminates employers from using credit checks as a basis for hiring employees. There is an exemption for public safety employees that initially concerned Botkin, but DOC does not use credit checks and AFSCME is let the bill progress.

SB 989 passed both chambers and is heading to the governor. It fixes an election glitch in faculty organizing efforts in Higher Education — in essence, without going into great detail, it makes organizing Higher Ed employees much the same as other public employees. This was a priority bill for our friends at AFT-Oregon.

HB 3685 would have added one state senator and one state representative to the Oregon Investment Council. AFSCME opposed this measure; it died in committee.

SB 996 expands state "whistleblower" protections to both local elected officials and public audit employees. It passed the Senate 30-0 and the House 58-0 (with two excused).

HB 3631 prohibits health insurance companies from considering injuries resulting form violence, including sexual violence, as "pre-existing conditions" as a means of denying coverage. This bill also passed unanimously of those in attendance in both chambers.

SB 1007 clarifies the intent of 2009's HB 3508 related to early release and sentence reductions for state prison inmates. Through a language glitch, Botkin says HB 3508 was inadvertently making some inmates eligible for earlier release than was planned. She expects further review and action on this issue in the 2011 session as well.

Finally, Botkin says the union will keep a close eye on an interim work group that spilled out of HB 3614, the so-called "Governor's 'Re-Set Government' Initiative." While HB 3614 got no further than a House committee in the special session, its purpose is to "advise the governor on options for restructuring state government" and Botkin says the language involved is enough to send up several red flags about possible privatization issues. The committee will meet throughout the spring and into early summer, and is scheduled to issue a final report in June.

* * *

Some other non-Legislature-related tidbits ...

MORE TROUBLE FOR 'THE GUVERNATOR' — A California judge is ordering back pay for more than 50,000 state workers he ruled were illegally furloughed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch has ordered the state to pay all employees who work in nearly 70 departments their full salaries. He also ordered an end to the three-day-a-month furloughs. The order applies only to workers in departments that are not funded through the state's General Fund.

Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear said the administration will appeal Roesch's order.

California state employee unions and others have filed more than 20 lawsuits challenging the furloughs, which were implemented last year to help California address its budget crisis.

* * *

LUCY SET TO RETIRE — The man often referred to as "the heart and soul" of AFSCME is going to retire.

AFSCME International's longtime Secretary-Treasurer William Lucy has announced his intention to retire this June. Lucy's announcement, which comes in the middle of his current four-year term, set off an immediate chain reaction as potential candidates to replace him are poised to throw their respective hats in the ring.

"Mr. Lucy has been a great leader in AFSCME and the trade union movement," said Oregon AFSCME Executive Director Ken Allen, who is also a national union Vice President. "In particular, he has provided great guidance and support for Council 75. It's my understanding that his health is fine and there is nothing really driving this decision other than he's simply decided it's time. He's in his mid-70s, so he's certainly earned it."

Lucy's ties to Council 75 are strong enough that the Oregon AFSCME Portland office bears the name "William Lucy Labor Center," an honor bestowed by delegates at the 2007 Oregon AFSCME Convention in Bend.

Lucy was first elected AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer in May 1972 and was most recently re-elected to another four-year term in July 2008. Lucy joined the AFSCME International staff in 1966 as the Associate Director of the Legislation and Community Affairs departments. Before assuming the position of Secretary-Treasurer, he served as Executive Assistant to late AFSCME President Jerry Wurf. For more than three decades, Lucy has been involved in international affairs, and he is the highest-ranking African-American in the labor movement. He led an AFL-CIO delegation to South Africa to monitor the first democratic election in that country. He is also founder and the President of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU), an organization of union leaders and rank-and-file members dedicated to the unique needs of African-Americans and minority group workers.

Lucy has hinted at retirement before, and even announced his intention to retire in 2004 before delegates at the AFSCME International Convention in Anaheim that year persuaded him to change his mind. Allen notes that this retirement announcement was carefully timed. Lucy is retiring effective June 25, which will allow delegates at this year's AFSCME Convention in Boston to democratically elect his successor. Had he retired immediately, the AFSCME International board would have appointed his replacement.

"That's just like Mr. Lucy — he wants the members to decide who replaces him," said Allen.

At this writing there is already one announced candidate, and that person has already garnered Lucy's endorsement. Within an hour of Lucy's resignation letter, Danny Donohue announced his intention to succeed Lucy. Not long after that, Lucy issued a public endorsement of Donohue.

Donohue is President of the New York State Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) and has been on the national union's board since 1984. He has long made clear his desire to ultimately succeed current AFSCME International President Gerald McEntee when McEntee cedes that office. In the meantime, Donohue says it's a logical approach for him to seek election to Lucy's post and work on the national union's executive team.

Donohue has laid the groundwork for moving up on the national AFSCME scene by attending numerous state conventions in recent years, including a visit to the 2005 Oregon AFSCME Convention in Seaside in 2005. Other candidates to replace Lucy are expected to announce their intentions soon. Allen says Council 75 delegates will have the opportunity to make a decision on Lucy's replacement before the Boston convention this summer.

* * *

DOUBLE CONDOLENCES — We end this e-lert with a heavy heart as we report the loss of two respected Oregon AFSCME members this week.

Gary Williams was killed in a car accident on Feb. 22. Williams was a Corrections Officer at Deer Ridge Correctional Institution in Madras and a member of Local 745. He was 46.

State police are still investigating details surrounding the accident, but it is known that Williams was killed during his commute home. He drove daily from his home in Mitchell to DRCI, a one-way drive of about 50 miles. He had worked at DRCI since November 2007.

A memorial service is pending; an official at DRCI says the service will likely not be held until mid- to late March. Williams is survived by his wife, Doreen Williams, and two children. They were well known in the small Mitchell community for overseeing a local exchange student dormitory that currently hosts 13 foreign students and some 80 over the past few years.

"They were 'Mom and Dad' to all of those exchange kids," said DRCI official Jessica Anderson. "This is a loss that will be literally felt all over the world."

An account has been opened at U.S. Bank in Gary Williams' name and anyone wishing to make a donation to the family can do so at any U.S. Bank branch in Oregon.

Alas, with Williams' passing still fresh on our minds came the news that about two weeks after the fact, a well-chronicled murder-suicide at a Gresham lounge claimed the life of another Oregon AFSCME member.

Victoria "Vickie" Schulmerich has passed away at OHSU Hospital in Portland. She was a teacher's assistant with the Multnomah Education Service District and a member of Oregon AFSCME Local 1995 at MESD since 2004. She was 53.

Schulmerich becomes the fourth fatality of a Feb. 12 off-duty shooting spree by Clackamas County Sheriff's Sgt. Jeffrey Grahn at the M & M Lounge & Restaurant in Gresham. Schulmerich was a friend of Grahn's wife, Charlotte Grahn, and was at the lounge with Charlotte Grahn and another mutual friend, Kathleen Hoffmeister. Jeffrey Grahn and his wife had documented marital problems, and he came into the lounge and confronted her. They stepped outside, where he fatally shot her. Moments later he returned to the restaurant and shot Schulmerich and Hoffmeister, then went back outside and killed himself. Hoffmeister died at the scene; Schulmerich had been on life support at OHSU since the incident.

"This has been a trying period for our members at MESD," says Council 75 Staff Representative Issa Simpson, who represents Local 1995 members. "Vickie was well-respected by her co-workers. She worked in the Early Childhood program, meaning she helped special needs pre-schoolers and grade schoolers.

"Vickie was also supportive of and active in the Local 1995 strike at MESD in 2007," Simpson added. "She was in that class of teacher's assistants that truly defined the strike. She was out there on the lines with us. She will be greatly missed, both by MESD in general and by her Local 1995 brothers and sisters in particular. And, of course, by her students."

Funeral arrangements for Schulmerich are pending. She married her husband, Scott Schulmerich, in 1979. They have three children.

"This is never easy, and to lose two well-respected members in one week makes it all the more difficult," said Allen. "On behalf of our entire union, I offer our support, prayers and thoughts to both the Williams and the Schulmerich families. 'An injury to one is an injury to all,' so this is a double loss to our Oregon AFSCME family."

# # #