One hundred union painters and floor coverers received $500 bonus checks and $100 gift cards June 6 at a Safety Training Awards Recognition (STAR) banquet in Portland. The craftsmen and women are members of Painters Local 10 in Portland, Local 1277 in Eugene, Local 724 in Salem, and Portland-based Floor Coverers Local 1236.
Eighty Painters and 20 Floor Coverers qualified for the bonus checks after completing seven classes (painters only) and 24 hours of skill-advancement training and safety courses over a 12-month period. Classes are held in the evenings and on weekends at the Painters Training Center in Northeast Portland and at the Clark County Skills Center in Vancouver, Washington.
The STAR program was initiated nine years ago when Painters and Allied Trades District Council No. 5 and the Signatory Painting Contractors Organization made a commitment to each other to field the best-trained, highest educated workforce in the industry. This led to the creation of the Painters Union/Management Partnership, or PUMP. The program is funded by a cents-per-hour contribution negotiated in their collective bargaining agreement.
Local 1236 started funding its own program four years ago in partnership with the Signatory Floor Covering Contractors.
In addition to the bonus checks, three apprentice painters were recognized for perfect attendance. They were Erin Scott, Aaron Hobbs and Jordan Wakefield. Scott has had perfect attendance for two years in a row.
Special recognition was given to contractor Steve Schiller, who recently stepped down as chair of the Oregon and SW Washington Painters Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee (JATC) after serving for 21 years. He was presented with a plaque by Dave Town, retired assistant business manager of District Council 5.
Local 1236 Business Rep Dave Winkler also recognized Craig Wolf, who has served as the local’s president for the last 14 years. Wolf did not run for re-election this year. The second generation union floor coverer and 24-year member also served for 18 years on the Local’s Executive Board.
Handing out checks to painters were District Council 5 Area Director Bud Bartunek and Schiller. Winkler and JATC Chair Clark Knori handed out checks to the floor coverers.
STAR Painters
Raquel Avalos, Chris Barela, William Barney, Juan Bernal, Joe Bishop, Mike Bokamper, Tim Bradfield, Jose Bravo, Jaime Britton, Chris Brock, Anthony Camarena, Brian “Tim” Chung, Michael Cramer, Cheryl Crawford, John Daniels, Kevin Davis, Mark Donkel, Svyatoslav Dorosh, Foo-Beng “Allen” Foong, Clay Fox, Stanley Gaines, Claudia Gallardo, Jaime Garcia, John George, Jason Gilbert, Sergio Gonzales, Ian Gordon, Bryan Gray, Patrick Greene, Ernie Grinier, Peter Halterman, Daniel Hill, Jonathan Jaimes, Lee Jessee, Damon Keene, Roger Kennedy, Charles Knight, Adolf Kortt, Michael Llanos, Moses “Daniel” Longoria, Miguel Lopez-Reyes, Tony Luna, Joe Luther, Brian Malkson, Justin Manning, Joshua McCanna, Sean McCarthy, Wayne McCaw, Julio Mena-Fuentes, Richard Mentzer, Stewart Morlan, Alin Muresan, Kathleen Nicholas, Daniel Norman, Sam Oliver, John Orton III, Rodney Patterson, Charles Pennell, Brian Phares, Jeff Phares, Rudy Ponder, Sr., Kenneth Rheel, Kim Robertson, Steven Rodriguez, Kevin Sauers, James Shields Sr., Roger Smith, Vince Spillman, Jeff Splichal, Nicholas Sprecher, Matthew Svetich, Paul Swearingen, Jorge Valverde, Amber Vankuren, Noel Vega, Jose Vega-Diaz, Chris Vezaldenos, Walberto Villatoro, Albert Zapata, and Joseph Zimney.
STAR Floor Coverers
Brandee Dunlop, Michael Ells, Jeff Hamilton, Louis Lain, Jeremy Lewis, Craig Merrell, Rodrigo Morales-Corona, Mike Nielsen, Mike Nguyen, Kevin Palmer, Rogelio Ramirez, Brent Tompkins, DJ Rusk, Tom Schaefer, Clint Stone, Vovka Tarasenko, Roger Vidal, Aaron Wallace, Shawn Wilson, and Craig Wolf.
