Roger Ware is a new Council 75 Staff Representative in the union's Pendleton office. Ware, 42, is a veteran Council 75 member and activist, and steps into a staff rep role following 17 years as an Oregon Correctional Officer. He was first hired at Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution in Pendleton in 1997, then transferred to Shutter Creek Correctional Institution in North Bend in 2001.

Ware was an active union member throughout his Corrections career. He served several terms a local union officer, and was also a member of the Security unit bargaining team for several contract negotiations. That experience led to other opportunities within AFSCME. Ware has been on internal organizing tours within AFSCME's correctional institutions around the state as well as filling in for AFSCME Staff Representative and Corrections Coordinator Tim Woolery while he was on vacation.

"The time I spent filling in as a staff rep was what led me to the decision to come to AFSCME full time," said Ware. "I enjoyed the job and felt that my years in and knowledge of Corrections will help me in this position in the Pendleton office representing the members at EOCI and Two Rivers Correctional Institution in Umatilla."

Ware says he will be a "hands-on" rep, and enjoys site visits as much as possible.

"I intend to establish a visible presence at both EOCI and TRCI," he says. 

An Oregon native, Ware has lived here most of his life — "with the exception of the five years I spent in the U.S. Army." He is married with three adult children. Two sons are currently enlisted in the military — his oldest in the Coast Guard and his youngest in the Air Force — while his daughter is a junior at Oregon State.

Ware is in the process of moving back to Pendleton from Coos Bay. Off work, he enjoys the outdoors. He has horses and likes to spend time with his family horseback riding. He also enjoys getting out to hunt and fish.