Longtime Local 328 (OHSU) and Oregon AFSCME activist Linda Johnson passed away on Aug. 17. She had recently turned 60 years old.

 

Johnson – more commonly known as “LJ” in most circles – had been battling several health issues in recent years, including a major liver ailment. However, she had been seemingly on the mend from her latest setback and was planning to return to her SE Portland home, so her passing caught friends and colleagues by surprise.

 

Johnson was a librarian at the Oregon Health & Science University, a post she’d held since 1980. She was prominent in the 1984 organizing drive that saw OHSU workers win AFSCME representation, and had been a proud Oregon AFSCME member since her first opportunity to sign an AFSCME union card in 1985.

 

Council 75 Political Coordinator Mary Botkin knew Johnson well. Botkin began her career with AFSCME during the 1984 OHSU organizing campaign, then was a Local 328 staff representative briefly before assuming a full-time lobbyist role in 1986. Botkin lived near Johnson and frequently provided her with transportation to various union and Democratic Party events, as Johnson was not fond of driving and rarely owned a car. Botkin says both she and the union have lost a good friend.

 

“Linda was one of the very first people I met back in 1984 when we started organizing OHSU, and we’ve been close ever since,” said Botkin. “Linda was always a strong advocate for AFSCME, though often quietly and in the background. ‘LJ’ was on any number of Local 328 committees when the local was forming. She helped write the local constitution.

 

“Linda Johnson was one of the kindest people I’ve ever known,” Botkin continued. “Unfortunately, her quiet demeanor probably masked to a lot of us just how sick she really was. I’m going to miss her greatly.”

 

In addition to her involvement with Local 328, Johnson was long active at the Council level. She’d been a delegate to countless national conventions, state conventions, women’s conferences, political trainings and such. She was a longtime member of the Oregon AFSCME Executive Board and the Council 75 Political Action Committee.

 

“What I’ll always remember about Linda is that she was such a hard worker, and that she didn’t consider any job to be beneath her,” said Oregon AFSCME Executive Director Ken Allen. “She was there every time at phone banks, canvasses and rallies. Making phone calls, making copies – whatever it took to help her union, ‘LJ’ was willing. She was a great political activist.”

 

Oregon AFSCME President Gary Gillespie remembers Johnson’s unique ability to both appreciate the past but look to the future.

 

“Linda gave a lifetime of commitment to organizing workers and fighting for their rights in the work place and the political arena,” said Gillespie. “While she was a great historical resource for Council 75, she always kept her focus on the future of workers and politics as well.”

 

Gillespie recalls a specific example of Johnson being ahead of the times.

 

“I remember in 2002 when Linda contacted me about a then little-known organization called The Bus Project,” he said. “Her enthusiasm for the program was a big motivation to bring Council 75 on board as an early financial supporter of The Bus Project. It was that vision, commitment and her wry and mischievous smile that I’ll always remember.”

 

Plans for a memorial service to celebrate Linda Johnson’s life are being formulated at this writing. An update will be posted once those details are final.