Governor signs Oregon AFL-CIO’s top priority bill with little fanfare

Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski was scheduled to travel to Bend July 15 to sign a law that renames U.S. 97 “World War II Veterans Historic Highway.” There were signing ceremonies scheduled for laws mandating school coaches be trained to recognize concussions, making roads safer for farm equipment, and requiring that insurance companies pay for phenylketonuria treatment. Press releases gave public notice when he signed bills clarifying sex offender reporting procedures, and eliminating minor requirements for appointment to the Governor’s Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee.

But on June 30, when the governor signed the Oregon AFL-CIO’s top priority bill of the session, there was no fanfare, no signing ceremony, no announcement of any kind. SB 519, the Worker Freedom Act, will give workers the right to skip management-led anti-union meetings. The Oregon AFL-CIO requested a signing ceremony, but only learned the bill was signed after the fact.

“Our members who testified on the bill would have loved to be there” said Oregon AFL-CIO spokesperson Elana Guiney.

Still, Guiney said, the bill was signed into law, and the labor federation is appreciative of that fact. Oregon is the first to pass this particular advance for workers, and the national AFL-CIO hopes to get other states to do the same. Plans were afoot as of press time for national AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka to call Kulongoski and express thanks.

Former Oregon AFL-CIO president Tim Nesbitt, now the governor’s deputy chief of staff, said Kulongoski was busy with the budget when SB 519 was signed.

Rem Nivens, the governor’s spokesperson, said there are too many bills to sign for the governor to have a ceremony for each one, but added that plans will be made for a private ceremony in which the governor will sign a parchment copy of the bill in the presence of representatives of organized labor.

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