Local 701's Cook takes full-time job at Port of Portland

Rob Cook has resigned as field staff supervisor of Operating Engineers Local 701 to take a job as manager of navigation services for the Port of Portland.

Cook, 53, also resigned his seat on the Port Commission, a post to which he was appointed by Governor John Kitzhaber in 1995.

Cook will oversee the operations of the pipeline dredge "Oregon," which every year siphons millions of cubic yards of sand from the Columbia River bottom from Portland to the Pacific Ocean to keep the navigation channel open for shipping. He will control the division's $4.5 million budget and supervise a staff of about 50 employees - two dozen of whom are members of Local 701 who work as dredgers. He started April 26.

"I feel like I've been force-fed from a fire hose," said Cook from his office at Swan Island, three days into his job orientation. "I have a lot to learn and a lot to get acquainted with."

The Port's contract with Local 701 expires this June (the traditional start of the dredging season), so negotiations for a new contract are now open. Cook took a withdrawal card and is no longer a member of the union.

In addition, Cook said the Port could get involved "to some extent" in the proposed Columbia River channel deepening project.

The Port has some sophisticated dredging equipment that could help the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Columbia River Pilots Association. The plan is to deepen the Columbia River's shipping channel from its current 40 feet to 43 feet, which would allow larger vessels to call on ports along the river.

The U.S. House Transportation Committee approved legislation April 22 to fund the channel deepening project. Congress is expected to approve the $183 million expenditure sometime in the fall with the first construction contracts let in November 2000. The project has been moving through a public planning process for the past six years and if all goes favorably the Corps will conduct feasibility studies and file an environmental impact statement for the project this summer.

"The attention given to endangered species and the Clean Water Act are going to play a big part in the future of that operation," Cook told the Business Journal.

Cook has a work history as a dredger, starting as a boilermaker who did welding work, to a boatman moving anchors, as an engineer, a lever man operating a dredge, and as a dredge captain. He joined Operating Engineers Local 701 in 1976 and was hired as a business agent in 1991 by then Business Manager Francis Wicklander. He was named field staff supervisor in 1995 after Mark Holliday was elected business manager.

"The dredge Oregon is the biggest operation I've ever worked on," Cook said.

To land his new job at the Port, Cook was interviewed by a seven-member panel that was comprised of Port staff and dredging experts unaffiliated with the Port. He was picked from a field of seven applicants. Cook's experience on the Port Commission, his background in dredging, experience with labor issues, and his management skills were important elements in his being hired, Port spokesman Aaron Ellis told the Portland Business Journal.

"I loved (being a commissioner) it," Cook said. "It was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life to be involved in the decision and policymaking of the Port of Portland." But when a call went out for applications to replace retiring Navigation Services Manager Larry Patella, Cook was interested in the job and he submitted an application.

Now, several unionists are lining up for consideration to fill Cook's seat on the Port Commission. But that process could take a while because of an ongoing rift between Senate Republicans and Democratic Governor Kitzhaber over past nominees and other unrelated political issues at the State Capitol.

And while technically none of the nine commissioners' seats are earmarked specifically for labor, union members have traditionally held at least one - and as many as three - seats at the table.

"I think it's very important that labor has a voice on this commission," said Cook. "I've never had the impression that any of the commissioners I served with were anti-union, but not all of them are knowledgeable about labor issues and there have been many misconceptions expressed (about labor unions), which is why it's important to have labor's perspective at the table."

Mary Shinn, administrative coordinator at the Port of Portland, said the only requirement of the commission is that it have at least two representatives from each county (Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington) within the port's boundaries. Cook lives in Washington County.

Shinn said of the eight remaining commissioners, five have served beyond the end of their terms or still have not been confirmed by the Senate. Port Commission President Alfred Gleason, a retired businessman, and Vice President Bob Walsh, a construction contractor, are serving "extended terms," having completed two four-year terms in October 1997. "The governor asked that their terms be extended for another year because of the airport (construction) project," Shinn said. "As you can see, they have gone well beyond a year."

In 1997 the Republican-controlled Senate refused to confirm the reappointment of bookstore owner Michael Powell to a second four-year term on the Port Commission, and it wouldn't even conduct a hearing for Tom Leedham, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 206, who was nominated by Kitzhaber to succeed Dick Wise of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. Powell and Wise continue to serve on the commission.

Three names are currently in front of the Senate waiting for confirmation. They are public relations specialist Cheryl Perrin, whose first term expired January 1999; Portland attorney Jay Waldron, nominated to succeed Wise, and attorney Jerry Drummond, nominated to succeed Gleason.

Katy Coba, director of appointments for the governor, told the Northwest Labor Press that legally, commissioners can serve until a replacement is seated.

Coba said that as of April 30 three names had been submitted to the governor's office for recommendation to succeed Cook. They are Ed Clay, secretary-treasurer of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555; Martha Hendrix, a member of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, and Dave Plant, directing business representative of Machinists District Lodge 24.

Coba said that because Plant does not live in Washington County, his recommendation (by the Oregon AFL-CIO) won't be considered.

The Northwest Oregon Labor Council called a meeting May 6 for local unions with interests at the Port of Portland to discuss potential nominees to refer to the governor. That meeting was held after this issue of the NW Labor Press went to press. Coba said the governor will wait a couple more weeks before making a recommendation. But even after that is completed a confirmation hearing could be months away.