Let me say this about that

DAVE CALLISON, who led Portland Police Local 456 from collective begging to collective bargaining in the late 1960s and early 1970s, died of a heart attack at age 77 on Friday, April 13.

Before he was elected president of Police Local 456 in 1968, the union's leadership had schmoozed the city's mayor and commissioners for pay raises and benefits, as did other unions of city employees. A militant Callison took office intending to change that and did, benefitting public employees locally and throughout the state. His success in wresting an honest-to-goodness collective bargaining contract from City Hall in 1970 helped set the stage for passage by the 1973 Oregon Legislature of a landmark public employees collective bargaining law.

In obtaining its first contract, the Police Union had the support of most Portland area labor unions. Hundreds of unionists joined police in mounting informational picket lines that surrounded City Hall. The Labor Press, then published weekly, kept up steady pressure on the mayor and city commissioners, printing their pictures and phone numbers and urging readers to call the elected officials to voice support for the police.

LOCAL 456 WAS THE FIRST union of police officers in the United States chartered by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). It was formed in 1942. Callison took his members out of AFSCME in 1973, using the argument that the union's national leadership was not in agreement with the collective bargaining goals of professional police officers. From then on the union was known as the Portland Police Association (PPA) and operated as an independent bargaining unit that was not affiliated with the AFL-CIO. However, for a number of years the PPA maintained a working relationship with the Portland area central labor council.

Despite Callison's success in getting the police their first contract, the PPA's members voted him out of office in 1974, replacing him with Stan Peters, who had been the union's vice president. The next year Callison, a patrolman who worked as a street officer, retired after a 27-year career.

A Portland native, Callison was a lineman on Roosevelt High School's football team and also competed on the track team. After graduation he turned down a college scholarship and joined the U.S. Marine Corps to fight in the South Pacific island-capturing campaigns in World War II. After the war he studied at Vanport College, which later became Portland State, and in 1948 he began his career in the Portland Police Bureau. Toward the end of his police career, Callison enrolled at the University of Portland to complete his college education, with his expenses paid by a federal program started by President Lyndon Baines Johnson to enable police officers to obtain college degrees.

AFTER LEAVING the Police Bureau, Callison worked for a time as a legislative research aide and driver for U.S. Senator Robert Packwood in Washinton, D.C. Before returning to Portland he worked briefly as a business agent for an Illinois police union.

Later, Callison taught English at schools in Yemen, Saudi Arabia and China.

His survivors include four daughters, a son and 10 grandchildren.

A memorial service for Callison was conducted April 16 at Caldwell's Colonial Chapel followed by burial at Willamette National Cemetery with Marine Corps and Police Bureau honor guards.