MAY 2008: AROUND THE STATE
Will work for balance
When Gov. Ted Kulongoski tapped Brad Avakian to be the
state’s labor commissioner, the former Democratic senator
and one-time civil rights lawyer says he had one thought: I’ll finally get to tackle
the workforce issues I didn’t have time for while I was
in office.
Avakian is stepping into a contentious position: The business
community often saw outgoing commissioner Dan Gardner —
who resigned to become a lobbyist for the International
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Washington, D.C. —
as overly supportive of labor unions. Avakian says he’ll
be able to find a balance between the two sides. He
doesn’t have long. He’ll need a lot of support if
he’s going to win in November when voters decide who to
elect as labor commissioner.
Just as long as his kids don’t get wise to his job
before they turn 18.
What was your first job?
Pumping gas at a Flying A in Beaverton. Actually my
first job was picking berries and hazelnuts. But my first
wage-paying job was at the gas station. I was 15 years old.
Has your idea of what’s
important to labor changed as you’ve gotten
older?
I suppose it’s developed. I believe there’s a
great balance in life. I’m a very big supporter of
organized labor. Unions have a place in that balance. But to
fully understand that, you need viable industry so you can have
jobs. That sense of balance has developed over time.
Did working as the chair of
the Psychologist Examiners board from 1995-1997 prepare you for
working with the Legislature?
(Laughs) It certainly gave me tools to work through the
budget with the Ways and Means committee. But I’m
completely unqualified to diagnose members of the
Legislature.
Over the past 40 years in
Oregon politics, who did the best job of addressing labor
issues?
I think Wayne Morse struck the kind of balance I was talking
about. He understood the rights of the workers and the
necessity of having strong business. He would have to make one
of the all-star lists.
When the Governor’s
office announced your name, the fact that your former law firm
represented unions was brought up in the media:
Listen, I was very humbled by it, but I was named
[Legislative] consensus builder of the year [by the Oregon
League of Conservation Voters in 2007] for one reason: I have
very deep relationships within the Democratic and Republican
ranks, and I have very good relationships with the labor and
business communities. It enabled me to pass some very specific
legislation. I’m guessing any comments are coming from
corners that haven’t spent time with me.
You have two teenage
children. How does the labor commissioner get his kids to do
housework?
I’ve got to figure out how to get my own housework done
first.
Is it a union
household?
If my kids understood collective bargaining they’d
organize right now. And because of my background as a civil
rights lawyer I’d have to support their
efforts.
ABRAHAM
HYATT
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