The Northwest Oregon Labor Retirees Council has disbanded.
Low turnout and an abundance of other active union retiree groups, including the Oregon Alliance for Retired Americans, led to the decision to dissolve, said interim secretary-treasurer Ambrose Bittner.
The group was formed in 1997 and met monthly in Southeast Portland. For many years it selected retired union members to its “Labor Hall of Fame.” They quit doing that in 2008.
Bittner said the group has filed paperwork with the national AFL-CIO to dissolve. Once approved, the council’s general fund of approximately $500 will be handed over to the Oregon AFL-CIO.
Bittner encouraged union retirees to attend their respective local union retiree clubs, and/or to join the Oregon Alliance for Retired Americans.
“There was a lot of duplication in what our group did, and what the other groups were doing,” Bittner said. “It’s not like we’re going away. We’ll still be active.”
