By JEFF KLATKE
Council 75 President

I am proud to issue this report as President of Oregon AFSCME for May 2016. Please share this report with the members of your local.

With the Oregon primary election behind us our work turns now to other tasks. As we get closer to the November election we will have more information for you about recommendations made by your fellow Oregon AFSCME members.

Due to a resignation by our now-former City Sector VP, Joe McGonigle from the City of Klamath Falls- local 2451, there is a vacancy on our executive committee. Only members of locals in the City Sector are eligible to fill that vacancy and the City Sector member of our Board will elect a new City Sector VP at their Aug 20 meeting. Until then, the executive committee may temporarily appoint someone to fill that vacancy and it will most likely make that appointment at its June 25 meeting. I am reaching out to members eligible for that temporary appointment to speak with them about the position.

Oregon AFSCME believes that all members, workers, and human beings, deserve respect, dignity, and fair treatment free from discrimination. As such, we have taken stances fighting discrimination in many forms: ending marriage discrimination, correcting gender pay inequity, demanding immigration reforms, and many other things. June is national Pride Month and Oregon AFSCME supports all of our members and friends in the LGBT community this month and all year long. Oregon AFSCME will be marching with the AFL-CIO contingent in the annual Portland Pride Parade on Sunday, June 19. Please join us in the march. For a list of all Pride month events click here. In addition, the AFL-CIO nationally has a group called Pride At Work which trains members and promotes anti-discrimination activism. You can find more information about Pride At Work on their Facebook page.

Just a quick reminder and update about the AFSCME International convention July 18-22 in Las Vegas. Delegate credentials must be submitted to our International Union no later than June 27. If your local has a resolution that it wishes to submit to the convention, all resolutions are due no later than June 28. There is helpful information posted on our Oregon AFSCME website including instructions for signing up for housing and credentials. To sign up for a hotel room at the convention please click here. All credentials and housing for Oregon locals will be collected and coordinated by Stephanie Swan; you can contact Stephanie at sswan@OregonAFSCME.org.

The next meeting of the Executive Committee is on June25 at the Salem AFSCME office at 11 a.m. The next meeting of the Political Action Committee is July 30 at the Portland AFSCME office at 10 a.m. The next meeting of the Board is August 20 at the Salem AFSCME office. All meetings are open to any member.

And finally, we have changed the Oregon AFSCME domain name from “.com” to “.org”. Email addresses for staff and officers have been changed, as has the address of our website.

I plan to send a president’s report like this every month to local presidents, members of the Oregon AFSCME board, and any member who requests it and gives the Council Secretary a home email address. And don’t forget, you can now access all monthly President’s Reports on the Oregon AFSCME website. If you are a local president or other local officer, please share this information with the members of your local.

If you ever have any questions or wish to send me a comment, you can reach me at president@OregonAFSCME.org.