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After two years in a top job at one of Oregon’s most powerful labor unions, Joe Baessler faces a fellow union member who would like his job.
The Oregon chapter of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees is holding its first-ever election for the position of executive director May 3, during its convention. Up to now, the union’s board had hired for the position. All others in the union are elected.
Baessler has been with Oregon AFSCME for 19 years in a variety of positions. Before that, he worked for Gov. Ted Kulongoski, U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, and Multnomah County Commissioner Lisa Naito.
Opposing Baessler is Rob Martineau, president of AFSCME Local 189, which represents workers at the city of Portland, where he is a water operations mechanic. Martineau went to work for the city in 1999 as a seasonal worker in the parks bureau equipment shop. He was first elected as president of Local 189 in 2017.
Baessler says he welcomes the contest. “The people I’ve devoted my political life to could fire me in a month,” he says in an interview.
Baessler and Martineau are aligned on one big issue the union faces: whether Oregon Health & Science University should close the Oregon National Primate Research Center, where 5,600 monkeys are bred and used in experiments. The facility employs 170 AFSCME members.
Earlier this month, Baessler told WW the union was “surprised and not ecstatic” after Gov. Tina Kotek, a beneficiary of AFSCME campaign contributions, said OHSU should wrap up research and close the primate center.
“I’m definitely on the side of union members and of science,” Martineau says. “I look forward to the opportunity to lead Oregon AFSCME as a member-driven organization.”