At at Dec. 7 retiree party, a Christmas tree is surrounded by gifts, but the toys and games are from—not for—the pensioners of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757. The party was one of many collection efforts under way at unions and union credit unions in the Portland metro area for a charity drive called Presents from Partners that’s put on each year by Labor’s Community Service Agency, a union-linked nonprofit. Local union training centers vie with each other in a friendly competition to see who can collect the most.
On Dec. 17, volunteers will assemble at the Laborers Local 737 hall and training center to pick up the gifts and deliver them to 180 families in need who were referred by their unions. It’s a way to make holidays a little brighter for union families that find themselves in hardship.
