The Annual Recognition Luncheon has been rescheduled for Sunday February 12, 2017.  Please RSVP by Friday February 3, 2017.  Please be aware that the invitations went out stating Saturday, the event is Sunday,  February 12th.

Riverview Restaurant 29311 SE Stark St.  Troutdale OR 97060 12:30 pm

The Executive board will be meeting on January 11, 2017 at 1:00 pm.  One of the issues the board will be addressing is the rescheduling of the January General Membership and the Clerk Craft Director election meetings. All members are welcome to attend.

The Local Executive Board has made the decision to cancel the membership and
Special Election meetings scheduled for January 8,2017. Ice is a problem all over the surrounding areas.  The Special Election meeting will be re-scheduled in accordance with the Local constitution.

The Portland Oregon Local APWU annual retirement/recognition luncheon is scheduled for January 7 @ 12:30.  At this time the weather is uncertain.  Snow, ice and rain are all in the forecast.   We will update the status of the event on Friday afternoon, January 6, 2017 via the Local Website and Facebook page.  Any question or concerns, please call the local office.

The Portland Clerk, Maintenance and Motor Vehicle Craft LMOU’s have been posted in the Local Memorandum of Understanding section.

The local Clerk Craft Director position became vacant on November 16, 2016 when Bill Martin was appointed Vice-President.  The Portland Local Constitution states “Vacancies of Craft Officers shall be filled by nomination and vote of Craft members present at a special election meeting.”  All local APWU members of the Clerk Craft are eligible to run for the office of Clerk Craft Director. The election meeting shall be held on January 8, 2016 at 6:30 pm.  All local union members of the clerk craft are encouraged to attend and exercise their right to vote.

On November 12th, 2016 President Brian Dunsmore assumed the duties as Clerk Craft National Business Agent.  Brian Dunsmore will be joining Brian Dunn as the Northwest Region National Business agents for the Clerk Craft.  The Portland Oregon Area Local members are proud to have two local past presidents serving as our NBA’s.

In accordance with the Local Constitution and Bylaws, Vice-President Joe Cogan will assume the duties as President.  President Cogan has appointed, and the Executive Board has approved, Clerk Craft Director Bill Martin as Vice-President.

The Auxiliary to the APWU celebrated 100 years of service to the members this August at our national convention. The Auxiliary is open to all friends, family members and retirees who are sponsored by an APWU member. Their good works include supporting community programs, scholarships, legislative aid, and so much more. If you or your family members and friends aren’t already a member please consider joining. You can sign-up at http://www.apwuauxiliary.org or contact the local union hall.

The Portland Oregon Area Local is proud to have a strong local Auxiliary Chapter led by President Maggie Hopwood. They are vital to our success as a local organization and we are stronger because of their involvement. The Portland Oregon Areal Local pays for and sponsors all our retirees for their first year membership in the Auxiliary.

I was honored to have been asked to take the photographs of the officers of the National APWU Auxiliary Officers at our recent national convention.

On August 17th we met with District Management to discuss our future involvement in the district safety programs. Of major concern for the APWU was the acknowledgement that our safety advocates must be able to act without fear of retaliation. We agreed that to alleviate any concern on the part of the APWU, all advocates would be provided with the personal cell phone number and email address of the District Manager. In the future if a safety advocate after attempting to resolve an issue is not satisfied with the response of local supervisors, they may contact the District Manager directly. The discipline that was issued to the APWU Safety Advocate has been rescinded by the District Senior Plant Manager and coaching has been provided to the responsible supervisors.

We also discussed the impediment that issuing discipline to employees for safety related accidents has on improving the overall safety and health program. We agreed to a moratorium on all safety related discipline until a policy could be developed and disseminated to management personnel. The core agreement was that prior to any supervisor conducting an investigative interview that may lead to discipline that supervisors must receive concurrence to conduct the investigation from the Manager of Human Resources. The APWU will also make it a permanent agenda item at future JLMSH meetings to review all investigative interviews and discipline that result from accidents/injuries or safety related activities.

We discussed but reached no firm resolution regarding conflict resolution training for supervisors and jointly addressing APWU Safety Advocates. Regarding the conflict resolution training the APWU has seen an increase in supervisors resorting to giving direct orders and contributing too instead of reducing conflict. We will continue to explore these issues further.

The APWU raised the outstanding job that our custodians and the important job that they do in protecting us from hazardous materials. Immediately and without reservation District Senior Plant Manager Flores and District Manager Williams suggested that we recognize these individuals for their efforts. We agreed to hold a function in September.

We concluded our meeting by conducting a walkthrough of the plant to review some of the new safety initiatives that have been put in place recently.

With these agreements in place and commitments to continue meeting, the APWU after consultation with the NALC and NPMHU will renew our participation in the Joint Labor Management Safety and Health programs.