By DON McINTOSH
For thousands of union members and their families, it was a tradition that lasted over 20 years: The biggest official Labor Day gathering in the Portland metro region meant a visit to Oaks Amusement Park, and a day of hamburgers, rollercoasters, fellowship, music, and speeches by politicians. As many as 16,000 attended in a typical year, a logistical feat that involved offsite parking near OMSI and a free-for-the-day train ride.
But the Oaks Parks Labor Day Picnic is no more. The picnic took a hiatus in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 health guidelines restricting large crowds. But the picnic’s return in 2022, organizers say, was killed off by the park’s own management.
The park is run by the nonprofit Oaks Park Association, and after its longtime director died, it hired a new CEO, Brandon Roben, who’d led the troubled Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville. Picnic organizers say Roben made a slew of changes that might as well have been crafted specifically to put an end to the event. Last October, park management terminated longtime picnic director Brenda Stephens, a 30-year employee who had worked with the labor council to make the event a success. The park also dismantled the stage where politicians and union officers spoke. They cut down trees. They reduced the number of picnic areas from 22 to 14. They eliminated the in-house catering departement, and announced a 20% service fee for outside caterers the labor council would want to bring in. And to top it all off, they proposed to triple the prices for ride bracelets, from $13.17 to $47.95 each. The park is charming, but it’s no Disneyland, and that would be an absurd amount to pay on the busiest day of the year, when long lines would limit the number of rides kids could take.
And that’s not even all. They also eliminated a crucial policy that made the event a success—allowing unions to buy ride bracelets in bulk and return unused bracelets for a refund. Instead, unions could buy bracelets at a 25% discount up to three days before, but would have to pay the full price for more on the day of.
Labor Council leaders were incredulous when IBEW Local 48 financial assistant Tracey Powers and other volunteer picnic organizers reported the changes this Spring, but focused on a leadership transition, the council was unable to pull together an alternate location this year.
The central labor council wasn’t the only labor organization to end its tradition at Oaks Park: IBEW Local 48, ILWU Local 8 and the Machinists, which held their own summer picnics there on other dates, moved elsewhere this year.
The Oaks Park Labor Day picnic was a joyous event, and unifying, bringing together not just the AFL-CIO unions of the Northwest Oregon Labor Council but also members of unaffiliated unions like the Carpenters and SEIU.
Prior to 1998, the Labor Council held its picnic at Blue Lake Park. That will be one option as organizers look for a suitable venue for the picnic’s return in 2023.
