Forms part of the Oregon Labor Oral History Program
Collection is open for research.
Gift of Jim Strassmaier, October 2008 (Lib. Acc. 266140).
Susan L. Stoner was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1949. She attended Portland State University, and then completed her bachelor's degree at Marylhurst University in Portland in 1984. In 1988, she earned a law degree from University of Houston in Texas. That same year, she and George Slanina were married, and a few months later, the couple moved to Portland. From 1991 to 2015, Stoner worked as general counsel for Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757. She and Slanina started a publishing company, Yamhill Press, and in 2009, the company published the first book in Stoner's Sage Adair Historical Mystery series, written under the name S. L. Stoner.
Sources: Information provided by Stoner in her interview; "Labor attorney Susan Stoner retires after decades defending bus drivers," Northwest Labor Press, March 3, 2015 (accessed August 11, 2025),
An incomplete transcript (261 pages) and a typescript index (49 pages) are available for in-person use at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Forms part of the Oregon Labor Oral History Program.
Oral history interview with Susan L. Stoner, by Carolyn Matthews, SR 11163, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
This oral history interview with Susan L. Stoner was conducted by Carolyn Matthews in eleven sessions, from December 11, 2007, to June 10, 2008. The interview was conducted for the Oregon Labor Oral History Program, which collects oral histories of individuals who have advocated for working people of Oregon, including public figures, union members, and workers. The interview audio recording is accompanied by a digital photograph of Stoner taken at the time of the interview.
In this interview, Stoner discusses her family background and early life in Portland; talks about working for OutsideIn, a Portland non-profit providing services for youth experiencing homelessness; and speaks extensively about her involvement in prison reform, as well as with neighborhood organizations in Portland and Corbett. She also talks about her experience of being monitored by the FBI because of her association with leftist politics. She shares her reasons for pursuing a law degree, and talks about her early career as a lawyer in Portland. She speaks extensively about her work as general counsel for Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757. She also talks about working with Local 757 President Ron Heintzman, and shares her opinion of former Local 757 business representative Mel Schoppert. She speaks about writing mystery novels set in the Pacific Northwest during the Progressive era, and describes her efforts to get them published.
Copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society. Use is allowed according to the following statement: Creative Commons - BY-NC-SA,
Tape 1, Side 1, to Tape 2, Side 1. In the first interview session, conducted on December 11, 2007, Stoner discusses her family background and early life in Portland, Oregon, including her relationship with her parents, her early education, and her high school experiences. She also talks about her father's work as an electrician and his involvement with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. She describes her involvement in union activities during the 1970s, and talks about working for OutsideIn, a Portland non-profit providing services for youth experiencing homelessness.
Tape 3, Side 1, to Tape 4, Side 1. In the second interview session, conducted on January 31, 2008, Stoner continues to discuss her work for OutsideIn. She also talks about her experiences hitchhiking during the 1970s. She speaks extensively about her involvement in prison reform, as well as with neighborhood organizations in Portland and Corbett. She talks about her experience of being monitored by the FBI because of her association with leftist groups.
Tape 5, Side 1, to Tape 6, Side 1. In the third interview session, conducted on February 5, 2008, Stoner continues to discuss her experience of being monitored by the FBI, and her involvement in prison reform. She talks about her experience living in Louisiana, and describes the racism she observed there in the mid-1970s. She then shares her reasons for pursuing a law degree, and talks about her jobs in law offices in Houston, Texas. She also talks about her husband, George Slanina.
Tape 7, Side 1, to Tape 8, Side 1. In the fourth interview session, conducted on February 13, 2008, Stoner discusses her experience studying for the Oregon bar exam after returning to Portland in 1988, and talks about her early career as a lawyer in Portland. She speaks extensively about her work as general counsel for Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757. She talks about working with Local 757 President Ron Heintzman, about union elections, and about federal regulations on unions under the administration of President George W. Bush. She shares her opinion of former Local 757 business representative Mel Schoppert. She describes the events of Local 757's elections in 2000.
Tape 9. In the fifth interview session, conducted on March 18, 2008, Stoner discusses Local 757's support for Albina Head Start. She speaks extensively about her work to improve health and safety for bus drivers in Local 757. She talks about contract negotiations, about the role of health insurance in negotiations, and about the Employee Assistance Program at local transportation agency TriMet, which employed drivers represented by Local 757. She describes the factors that make bus driving a particularly stressful job.
Tape 10. In the sixth interview session, conducted on April 1, 2008, Stoner discusses individual Local 757 members she represented. She talks about TriMet's hiring practices, about TriMet's Lift paratransit services for people with disabilities, and about Local 757's campaign for fair wage increases at TriMet.
Tape 11, Side 1, to Tape 12, Side 1. In the seventh interview session, conducted on April 8, 2008, Stoner looks at Northwest Labor Press articles about conflicts between Local 757 conflicts and TriMet, and discusses the articles. She describes the leadership structure of Local 757, talks about the union's arbitration process, and discusses attending ATU International conventions. She also talks about ATU International's inclusion of transit workers in Romania.
Stoner's microphone malfunctioned partway through this session, and her answers are difficult to hear during portions of the recording on Tape 11, Side 2, and Tape 12, Side 1.
Tape 13, Side 1, to Tape 14, Side 1. In the eighth interview session, conducted on April 24, 2008, Stoner discusses the role of shop stewards in Local 757, and the importance of coalition building. She shares her thoughts about larger unions, such as AFL-CIO and SEIU. She talks about working with the National Labor Relations Board and the Oregon Employment Relations Board; discusses Local 757's history of supporting both Democratic and Republican legislators; and describes her independent study program at Marylhurst University in the 1980s. She also discusses her ambitions for a writing career.
Tape 15. In the ninth interview session, conducted on April 30, 2008, Stoner discusses how the relationship between workers and unions changed during her career with Local 757. She talks about Local 757's retiree association, describes a labor dispute in the Rogue Valley during the 1990s, and discusses the relationship between ATU locals and the international union. She also talks about TriMet's hiring practices.
Tape 16, Side 1, to Tape 17, Side 1. In the tenth interview session, conducted on May 8, 2008, Stoner discusses people who held leadership positions in Local 757 during her career, and talks about the political factions within the union. She reflects on her accomplishments as general counsel for ATU Local 757, and discusses things she would like to accomplish in the future. She speaks about writing a series of mystery novels set in the Pacific Northwest during the Progressive era, and describes her efforts to get them published.
Tape 18. In the eleventh and final interview session, conducted on June 10, 2008, Stoner discusses a conference for labor lawyers that she attended in Seattle, Washington, and shares her thoughts about the results of the 2008 primary election, both of which occurred shortly before the interview session. She then speaks about her involvement in fighting regulations that would have forced the City of Portland to cover its water reservoirs. She closes the interview by discussing how some workers avoid paying union dues.