AFSCME Local 328 — Oregon AFSCME’s largest local — has purchased its own office space, a corner storefront at 4006 SW Barbur Boulevard, which is near where members work. Local 328’s 5,500 members are employed at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU), at its campus and hospital on “Pill Hill” as well as facilities downtown and in Portland’s South Waterfront neighborhood.
Local 328 formerly rented an office, but was asked to leave when the owner had other plans for the space. The local used its contract defense (strike) fund to make the purchase.
Purchased last August for $620,000, the 1949 building includes 1,200 square feet of office space for the use of the Oregon AFSCME staff representatives who are assigned to the Local: Frank Vehafric, Diane Lovell and Val Andreas. They moved in at the end of January into the space, the former location of Rose City Hearing Aids. The building also includes an adjacent office where Farmers Insurance is a tenant, as well as a basement that is being remodeled into a 2,000-square-foot three-bedroom apartment. Vehafric said rents from the two tenants are expected to cover the monthly mortgage.
