Oregon AFL-CIO won't pursue initiatives in November


SALEM — The Oregon AFL-CIO Executive Board voted Feb. 26 not to move forward with a state initiative to provide health care for all Oregon children. The decision came after board members affirmed the presidential and congressional contests in Oregon as labor’s top priority for the November 2004 elections.

“Our health care crisis stems from bad policies and inaction at the federal level,” said Oregon AFL-CIO President Tim Nesbitt. “There’s only so much we can expect from cash-strapped states and state taxpayers to fix this crisis — when the real solutions lie at the federal level.” 

The state labor federation said the Bush Administration is spending money “hand-over-fist on the wrong policies, including huge tax breaks for the wealthy, when what we need are more federal help for public health care programs in our states, reforms to reduce prescription drug costs and pro-active policies to get more employers to provide affordable health care for their workers.”

The Executive Board also decided not to proceed with initiatives to establish new constitutional vote requirements to protect overtime pay and the minimum wage. That decision reflected a renewed commitment to win pro-worker majorities in the Legislature and the determination to use prior votes of the electorate (on minimum wage) and strong public support (to preserve overtime rights) as organizing issues in the next legislative cycle.

“Any organization that tries to reduce the minimum wage or restrict overtime pay will find itself on the wrong side of the huge majorities of the Oregon electorate,” said Nesbitt.


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