Forms part of the Oregon Labor Oral History Program (OLOHP).
Session 5 and portions of session 7 are restricted until 2032. The transcript and digitized audio files have been redacted to reflect the restriction. The remainder of the interview is open for research.
Gift of the Oregon Labor Oral History Program, December 2011 (Lib. Acc. 28380).
Jean Anne Eilers was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1940. She attended Seattle University for one year before joining the Society of the Holy Child Jesus convent in Rosemont, Pennsylvania, in 1959. She taught at Catholic schools from 1962 to 1976. She earned a bachelor's degree from Immaculate Heart College and studied for a master's degree at California State University, Los Angeles. In 1981, she left the convent. The next year, she and Robert Byrne were married; they later had one child. She was a labor paralegal and organizer for United Farm Workers from 1976 to 1981; an organizer for SEIU Local 49 and SEIU Local 503 OPEU, retiring in 2010; and state director of the AFL-CIO from 1994 to 2005.
Forms part of the Oregon Labor Oral History Program (OLOHP).
Oral history interview with Jean A. Eilers, by Carolyn Matthews, SR 11262, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
This oral history interview with Jean Eilers was conducted by Carolyn Matthews from August 10 to December 4, 2011. The interview was conducted as 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. The interview was conducted in eight sessions. Robert Byrne and Michela Byrne were also interviewed in session eight. In this interview, Eilers discusses joining the Society of the Holy Child Jesus convent in Rosemont, Pennsylvania, teaching at Catholic schools from 1962 to 1976, and her reasons for leaving the convent in 1981. She speaks about her involvement with labor organizing in California with the United Farm Workers, and in Oregon with AFSCME, OPEU Local 503, and SEIU Local 49. She then talks about serving as the state director of the AFL-CIO and discusses Jobs with Justice; speaks about union negotiations at Kaiser Permanente, Xerox, and the Oregon Department of Transportation, as well as her involvement with the campaign to unionize the employees of Providence hospitals. She also talks about Occupy Portland.
Copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society. Use is allowed according to the following statement: Creative Commons - BY-NC-SA,
In the first interview session, conducted on August 10, 2011, Eilers discusses her family background and early life in Portland, Oregon. She talks about her recreational activities, about the neighborhoods she lived in, and about her education at Madeleine Catholic School. She also looks at family photographs and talks about them. She then speaks about joining a convent in Rosemont, Pennsylvania, and teaching at Catholic schools. She also talks about her relationship with her family and describes the changes that came out of Vatican II. She discusses her early involvement with labor organizing in California with the United Farm Workers.
In the second interview session, conducted on August 17, 2011, Eilers revisits the topic of her family background and early life in Portland, Oregon. She talks about her college education while living in Los Angeles, California. She also revisits the topic of the changes to the Catholic Church that came out of Vatican II. She speaks at length about her early involvement with labor organizing in California with the United Farm Workers, including working with Cesar Chavez. She talks about her reasons for leaving the convent in 1981, and about her marriage to Robert Byrne.
In the third interview session, conducted on October 19, 2011, Eilers continues to discuss her work with the United Farm Workers, including working with Cesar Chavez, and her reasons for leaving the movement. She speaks about her life after leaving the convent in 1981, including working for AFSCME. She then discusses working for other unions, including OPEU Local 503 and SEIU Local 49. She also talks about balancing her career and child care. She then talks about serving as the state director of the AFL-CIO and discusses Jobs with Justice.
Tape 7, Side 1, to partway through Tape 8, Side 1. In the fourth interview session, conducted on November 2, 2011, Eilers continues to discuss serving as the state director of the AFL-CIO, including protests the union was involved with, particularly regarding the Gulf War and the World Trade Organization. She talks about people and organizations that she worked with while with the AFL-CIO, including Father Tobin and Occupy Portland. She speaks about union negotiations at Kaiser Permanente, Xerox, and the Oregon Department of Transportation. She then briefly talks about her work for SEIU Local 49 with employees of Providence Hospital.
This session is restricted until 2032. Begins partway through Tape 8, Side 1, and continues to the end of Tape 9, Side 2. In the fifth interview session, conducted on November 9, 2011, Eilers speaks at length about her involvement with the campaign to unionize the employees of Providence hospitals with SEIU Local 49, and talks about the failure of that campaign. She also talks about the Occupy Portland movement; about capitalism and Catholicism in health care; and about the relationship between labor and the press.
In the sixth interview session, conducted on November 16, 2011, Eilers discusses her involvement with the Jobs with Justice Faith Labor Committee, particularly the annual breakfast. She also talks about Father Bob Krueger of St. Andrew's Church. She speaks about the role of women in the Catholic Church and in labor unions; revisits the topic of Vatican II; and talks about the SEIU. She talks about the careers of her husband, Robert Byrne, and her daughter, Michela Byrne. The sound quality of this interview session is poor.
Selected portions of this session are restricted until 2032. In the seventh interview session, conducted on November 30, 2011, Eilers reads from and talks about a brief autobiographical essay. She speaks about the importance of unions and revisits the topic of her work with SEIU Local 49 to unionize employees of Providence hospitals. She talks about her early life in Portland and discusses how the city changed; about F. Leo Smith; and about her involvement with the Metropolitan Alliance for the Common Good. She also talks again about Occupy Portland.
In the eighth and final interview session, conducted on December 4, 2011, Eilers' daughter, Michela Byrne, discusses her early life as the daughter of a priest and a nun who were labor activists; her education; and her career as a teacher. Eilers' husband, Robert Byrne, discusses his involvement in the labor movement, and talks about leaving the priesthood. Eilers also discusses balancing her career and raising a family.