Forms part of the Oregon Labor Oral History Program.
Collection is open for research.
Gift of the Pacific Northwest Labor History Association, August 2018 (Lib. Acc. 29318).
Alice Lee Dale was born in Dayton, Washington, in 1952, and she grew up in Ashland, Oregon. In 1975, she earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Oregon. She then earned a law degree from Loyola University in Los Angeles, California. In 1978, she became an attorney for the Oregon Public Employees Union (OPEU), which in 1980 became SEIU Local 503. In 1985, she became Local 503's executive. That same year, she and Franklin Evans were married; they later had one child. In 2001, Dale became a trustee for SEIU Local 49, which represents janitors and hospital workers, and the next year, she became president of Local 49. Dale left Local 49 in 2009 to accept a position as director of the Property Services Sector of the UNI Global Union in Geneva, Switzerland. She retired in 2016 and returned to Portland, Oregon.
Sources: Vital records on Ancestry.com; information provided by Dale in her interview; "SEIU's Dale takes job in Geneva; Local 49 names Niemi president," NW Labor Press, June 5, 2009 (Volume 110, Number 11), accessed July 29, 2024,
Forms part of the Oregon Labor Oral History Program.
An incomplete transcript (106 pages) and a typescript index (23 pages) are available for in-person use at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Oral history interview with Alice L. Dale, by Carolyn K. Matthews, SR 1723, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
This oral history interview with Alice L. Dale was conducted by Carolyn K. Matthews at Dale's home in Portland, Oregon, in five sessions from March 5 to May 21, 2018. 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.
In this interview, Dale discusses her family background and early life in Ashland. She talks about her college experiences at the University of Oregon and at Loyola University in Los Angeles, California. She describes how, in 1978, she became an attorney for the Oregon Public Employees Union (OPEU), which later became SEIU Local 503. She speaks about her work with the union, about how the union developed as it affiliated with the Service Employees International Union, and about her achievements as the union's executive after 1985. She also discusses a rolling strike in 1987, and organizing home care workers into the union. She shares her reasons for leaving Local 503 to become a trustee for Local 49, which represented janitors and hospital workers, and discusses a failed campaign to organize health-care workers at Providence Hospital into the union. She discusses a 1995 SEIU Local 503 strike over proposed changes to the Public Employees Retirement System, and changes Oregon made to the worker compensation system in the 1990s. Dale then talks about her work as director of the Property Services Sector at UNI Global Union in Geneva, Switzerland, from 2009 to 2016. She talks about returning to the U.S., and focusing her energy on helping immigrants incarcerated by President Donald Trump's administration at the southern U.S. border. She speaks extensively about her experience with spasmodic dysphonia, a disorder affecting the vocal cords. She closes the interview by talking about mentoring future union leaders, and by reflecting on her achievements.
Copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society. Use is allowed according to the following statement: Creative Commons - BY-NC-SA,
First half of Tape 1, Side 1. In the first interview session, conducted on March 5, 2018, Dale discusses her family background and early life in Ashland, Oregon, including learning Spanish and her family's religious faith. She talks about her college experience at the University of Oregon.
Partway through Tape 1, Side 1, to the end of Tape 2, Side 1. In the second interview session, conducted on March 14, 2018, Dale discusses her career history. She speaks further about her early life, particularly spending a year in Ecuador with the American Field Service when she was 16. She then speaks further about her college experience at the University of Oregon. She discusses attending law school at Loyola University in Los Angeles, California, then describes how, in 1978, she became an attorney for the Oregon Public Employees Union (OPEU), which later became SEIU Local 503. She speaks about her work with the union, about how the union developed as it affiliated with the Service Employees International Union, and about her achievements as the union's executive after 1985. She discusses the issues and strategy behind a rolling strike in 1987, including pay equity and job security. She also talks about her marriage to Franklin Evans, and about his career as an architect.
Tape 2, Side 2, to partway through Tape 3, Side 2. In the third interview session, conducted on March 19, 2018, Dale further discusses the 1987 rolling strike. She talks about legislation regarding the ability of public employees to conduct collective bargaining, and about legislation regarding the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS). She speaks extensively about organizing home care workers into SEIU Local 503. She discusses lobbying the Oregon Legislature to raise the minimum wage. She shares her reasons for leaving Local 503 to become a trustee for Local 49, representing janitors and hospital workers, and discusses a failed campaign to organize health-care workers at Providence Hospital into the union. Matthews also shares her experience as a Providence employee during the campaign.
Partway through Tape 3, Side 2, to partway through Tape 4, Side 1. In the fourth interview session, conducted on March 26, 2018, Dale discusses revisiting Ashland as an adult. She talks about a 1995 SEIU Local 503 strike over proposed changes to PERS. She shares her experiences dealing with managers while organizing workers. She compares her experiences working with unions in the United States and Europe in her role as director of the UNI Global Union's Property Services Sector in Geneva, Switzerland. She talks about SEIU's decision to leave the AFL-CIO in the early 2000s, and the creation of a new union federation known as Change to Win.
Partway through Tape 4, Side 1, to the end of Tape 6, Side 1. In the fifth and final interview session, conducted on May 21, 2018, Dale discusses her mother's funeral, which was held between the fourth and fifth interview sessions. She talks about changes Oregon made to the worker compensation system in the 1990s. She talks about considering a run for Oregon attorney general in 2007, and shares her reasons for deciding against it. She discusses her work as director of the UNI Global Union's Property Services Sector from 2009 to 2016, and talks about living in Geneva, Switzerland, with her family. She compares worker rights in the U.S. to those in Europe. She describes moving back to U.S. in 2016, and talks about focusing her energy on helping immigrants incarcerated by President Donald Trump's administration at the southern U.S. border. She speaks extensively about her experience with spasmodic dysphonia, a disorder affecting the vocal cords. She closes the interview by talking about mentoring future union leaders, and by reflecting on her achievements.