Pat Smith Forgot Unitus's Roots!

In the beginning...

On July 7, 1937 Oregon's telephone employees formed Oregon Telephone Employees Credit Union, later better known as Oregon TELCO. This credit union was formed to provide access to financial services to working men and women to allow them to provide a better life for their families. These folks came together in a time when banks largely ignored the working class, when Robber Barons amassed huge amounts of wealth on the backs of poorly paid workers. In essence, the community came together to protect and provide for the working men and women.

The Community Credit Union's Mission...

Credit unions are owned by the members and operated for the members. They are community institutions. You can look at it as a not-for-profit institution or a for-profit institution whose profits go to the members. A credit union is not a bank! Credit unions don't pay taxes. Ask any credit union (or the Credit Union National Association) and they will tell you they are fundamentally different, they are institutions run by the community for the community. Heck, just look at Unitus's mission statement: "people helping people" and "invested in you."

Pat has led Unitus Astray...

In upcoming posts, I will show how Unitus's fees have soared since Pat Smith was hired as CEO and Robber Baron. While fees have gone up, the wages and benefits of Unitus workers have stagnated. While Pat Smith has insisted that such wage and benefit cuts and stagnation ha been necessary, her salary and benefits have skyrocketed.

Thus, this is a story about how corporate greed has come to my beloved Credit Union.