Building Trades, Fire Fighters councils endorse Kitzhaber

The Oregon State Building and Construction Trades Council and the Oregon State Firefighters Council have endorsed John Kitzhaber for governor of Oregon.

The OSBCTC represents 32 union locals in 21 crafts, including: asbestos workers, boilermakers, bricklayers, electricians, glaziers, ironworkers, laborers, floorcoverers, painters, plasterers, roofers, sheet metal workers, plumbers and pipefitters, cement masons, glassworkers, elevator constructors and teamsters.

“John Kitzhaber is the hands-down choice for anyone who cares about creating jobs and a better economic future for Oregon,” said OSBCTC Executive Secretary Bob Shiprack. “Oregon’s next governor will inherit a tough economic climate. John Kitzhaber is the only candidate for governor with a real track record of creating quality jobs and standing up for Oregon’s middle class.”

Oregon State Fire Fighters Council President Kelly Bach said as firefighters, “our job is to step into a crisis to rescue and protect the people in danger. Right now, Oregon needs the same thing from its next governor. John Kitzhaber has the on-the-job experience and character we need to create jobs, protect public safety, and stand up for front-line firefighters and all Oregon families.”

The Oregon State Firefighters Council represents 3,000 members in 44 different locals.

Kitzhaber has already received endorsements from United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555 and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 48.

Kitzhaber is a former two-term governor. An emergency room physician from Roseburg by trade, he has also served in the Oregon House of Representatives and as the Oregon Senate president. In his career he enacted many progressive reforms, including the Oregon Health Plan, the Oregon Education Act for the 21st Century, the Oregon Children’s Plan, and the Oregon Salmon Plan, and he helped established Oregon’s Statewide Trauma System.

Since leaving office in 2002, he has continued to work on health care reform, natural resource issues and energy policy, leading several nonprofit foundations and boards. 

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