Forms part of the Oregon Labor Oral History Program.
Collection is open for research.
Gift of the Pacific Northwest Labor History Association, 1993-2014 (Lib. Acc. 28380).
Kenneth Alfred Richins was born in Sacramento, California, in 1950. After his parents died in a traffic collision in 1957, he moved to Loomis, California, with his grandmother. He received a bachelor's degree from Conquerors Bible College in Portland, Oregon. After missionary work in the Caribbean, he became a dorm counselor for a youth rehabilitation center in Martell, Nebraska, in 1971. He married Lucinda "Cindy" Springer in 1973, and they later had three children. The year after they married, the couple moved to Salem, Oregon, where Richins became a bus driver for Cherriots Bus Company. In 1982, he became financial secretary of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1594, and then he served as vice president from 1984 to 1985. In 1991, he was elected as recording secretary of Local 1594, and he became interim president the next year. After Local 1594 merged into ATU Local 757 in Portland in 1993, Richins was appointed to the executive board.
Sources: Vital records on Ancestry.com; information provided by Richins in his interview; "Transit union members elect new leadership," Northwest Labor Press, June 22, 2012 (accessed August 19, 2025),
Forms part of the Oregon Labor Oral History Program.
An incomplete transcript (209 pages) is available for in-person use at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Oral history interview with Ken Richins, by James R. Kelsheimer-Sevich, SR 11194, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
This oral history interview with Ken Richins was conducted in four sessions, from May 24 to June 21, 2010, at the Amalgamated Transit Union Hall in Portland, Oregon. The interview was produced in cooperation with a Portland State University Public History class, taught by Professor Bill Lang, and sponsored by ATU Local 757. The interviewer, James R. Kelsheimer-Sevich, was a student in the class. The interview is part of 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. Accompanying the interview audio recording is a color photograph of Richins taken at the time of the interview.
In this interview, Richins discusses his family background and early life in Sacramento, California, and in Loomis, California, and describes his experience growing up as a member of the United Pentecostal Church. He describes his work as a dorm counselor at a youth rehabilitation center in Martell, Nebraska, and how he came to live in Salem, Oregon, in 1974. He speaks about working as a bus driver for Cherriots Bus Company in Salem, Oregon, beginning in 1974, and about joining the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 24. He describes how Cherriots employees changed their union to Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1594 in 1982, with the help of ATU International Vice President Mel Schoppert. He discusses the offices he held in Local 1594, then describes the local's merger into Local 757 in 1993. He discusses Local 757's internal politics, and talks about how Ron Heintzman and Mel Schoppert influenced him. He also speaks extensively about his personal journey from being raised in the Pentecostal church to becoming something similar to a Theist.
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, through Tape 2, Side 2. In the first interview session, conducted on May 24, 2010, Richins discusses his family background and early life in Sacramento, California, with particular attention to his family's religious affiliation. He talks about the death of his parents in a traffic collision when he was six years old, and about the aftermath. He discusses living with his grandmother and attending school in Loomis, California, and describes his experience growing up as a member of the United Pentecostal Church. He shares his reasons for attending Conquerors Bible College in Portland, Oregon; talks about doing his mission in the Caribbean; and describes his work as a dorm counselor at a youth rehabilitation center in Martell, Nebraska. He also talks about his marriage to Cindy Springer, and describes how he came to live in Salem, Oregon, in 1974.
Tape 3, Side 1, through Tape 4, Side 2. In the second interview session, conducted on May 26, 2010, Richins revisits topics he discussed in the first session. He also describes how his Pentecostal faith informed his personality and social life, and discusses his work experiences in Portland while he was in college. He then speaks about working as a bus driver for Cherriots Bus Company in Salem, Oregon, beginning in 1974, and about joining the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 24. He describes how Cherriots employees changed their union to Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1594 in 1982, with the help of ATU International Vice President Mel Schoppert. He also talks about serving as treasurer for Local 1594, and describes the local's first contract negotiations.
Tape 5, Side 1, through Tape 6, Side 1. In the third interview session, conducted on June 14, 2010, Richins discusses the development of a transit district in the Salem area in the 1970s, and speaks further about Cherriots employees organizing into ATU Local 1594. He talks about Local 1594's union hall, about the local's first contract negotiations, and about its first elections. He discusses serving as vice president of the local from 1984 to 1985, shares his reasons for resigning, and discusses his involvement with the Pentecostal church in Salem. He then speaks about becoming recording secretary of Local 1594 in 1991, about serving as interim president in 1992, and about his children, their families, and their careers. He discusses Local 1594's merger into Local 757 in 1993, and Local 757 President Ron Heintzman's role in the merger. He speaks extensively about Local 757's internal politics.
Tape 7, Side 1, through Tape 9, Side 1. In the fourth and final interview session, conducted on June 21, 2010, Richins discusses the benefits of unionization, and talks about the decline in union membership in the decades prior to the interview. He describes grievances he filed on behalf of Local 1594 members, talks about their outcomes, and discusses the work of ATU Local 757 General Counsel Susan L. Stoner. He discusses how Ron Heintzman and Mel Schoppert influenced him. He talks about ATU International elections, about contract negotiations, and about the daily routine of a typical bus driver. He speaks extensively about his personal journey from being raised in the Pentecostal church to becoming something similar to a Theist.
Audio quality for this session is poor.