Leonard says time might be ripe for Democratic Labor Party

NORTH BEND - State Representative Randy Leonard, former president of Portland Fire Fighters Local 43, lobbed an arrow - or was it an atomic bomb? - across the bow of the Democratic Party of Oregon when he suggested that now might be the time to form a Democratic Labor Party.

Leonard, a Democrat who spent three terms in the Senate representing Portland's 9th District, just completed his first session in the House of Representatives after being term-limited out of office. Speaking in his political capacity at the 44th annual convention of the Oregon AFL-CIO, Leonard said that labor has been taken for granted "one too many votes" and that a major element within the Democratic Party "disdains those of us who represent working-class Oregonians."

Leonard was incensed at Democrats - especially those from Portland - who voted to overturn the court-awarded right for migrant farm workers to meet with their employer regarding their working conditions without being fired.

"That vote represents a view that a number of Democrats have towards those of us in the labor movement," Leonard said.

A check of the Oregon AFL-CIO's Committee on Political Education voting records shows that six Democrats voted for Senate Bill 1115, the farm workers' rights bill. The were Chris Beck and Randall Edwards of Portland, Elaine Hopson of Tillamook, Kurt Schrader of Canby, Terry Thompson of Newport and Judy Uherbelau of Ashland.

Leonard wasn't defending the Republican Party, although he said many union leaders feel they have accomplished more under Republican control of the Legislature then they have with Democrats.

Last session, he said, under Republican control, was "so dismal for working Oregonians that it meant the near loss of collective bargaining rights, minimum wage, and further dilution of workers' compensation protections."

Leonard also was angered by what he described as a "whisper campaign" within the Democratic Party's minority caucus that led to the defeat of union member and State Representative Dan Gardner as minority leader.

Kitty Piercy of Eugene was narrowly re-elected minority leader even though she is under term-limits and cannot run for the seat again.

"(Piercy) was selected by a bare majority of the Democrats over Dan Gardner, by all accounts the best fundraiser from labor and business, the best organizer, the best recruiter and, oh yeah, the vice president of Electrical Workers Local 48," Leonard told convention delegates.

Later, Leonard told the Northwest Labor Press that some Democratic lawmakers simply didn't want to put "labor in charge of the House Democrats."

The House Democratic Caucus met again Sept. 15 and this time Gardner was elected co-chair along with Piercy (see related article on this page).

At the convention, Leonard questioned whether the Democratic Party truly represents the vast majority of working-class Oregonians, especially so if Democrat don't "support unequivocally" collective bargaining rights, the "little" Davis-Bacon Act, adequate workers' compensation coverage for injured workers, family leave, adequate employer-provided health insurance, an aggressive enforcement of farm worker housing and job conditions laws, the minimum wage, and the right to organize and the right to meet with your employer regarding your working conditions without being fired.

"I believe that the time is approaching that we need to consider a Democratic Labor Party," he declared, "a party that is based on the principle that working-class Oregonians deserve a first-rate public education system, that jobs in this state are based on family wages and health benefits are provided to all Oregonians."

Leonard said his allegiance has always been to working men and women. "I will never stay silent when I feel we are being attacked, whether from a Republican or a Democrat," he said.