By Tom Chamberlain, Oregon AFL-CIO president
It is hard to believe that just eight years ago, the American labor movement was on the verge of a monumental power shift. From 2004 to 2007, the labor movement was united and determined to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, crucial labor law reform. We educated members, wrote letters, signed petitions, and held leaders accountable: No endorsements, and no support, unless they signed on. We organized and we—a united union movement—had the power.
That power was on display in 2007 on a hot Chicago evening in Soldier Field, where tens of thousands of union members and their families listened and cheered as Democratic presidential candidates debated our issues. The event was televised nationally. Clinton, Obama, Dodd, Edwards, Kucinich, and Richardson stood and voiced their undying support of labor law reform under the Employee Free Choice Act.
And it went beyond presidential candidates; it was all Congressional candidates.
With the wind at our backs, organized labor entered the 2009 Congress with victory within our grasp. Corporate America went berserk. From Walmart to Warren Buffett, business doing everything they could to stop us. Then our champion, Ted Kennedy, died and we were told to wait until after the Affordable Health Care Act was passed.
It never happened. Democrats lost the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010 and the Employee Free Choice Act was dead.
Corporate America was satisfied, but the labor movement knew we had come close to a real win.
By February 2011, the Koch brothers’ candidate, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, was steamrolling a bill to limit collective bargaining rights for all public employees. Wisconsin labor fought hard, but lost. Soon after, Indiana and Michigan followed.
Today, 25 of the 50 states are “right to work.” Almost every state has seen similar legislative attacks. All but Oregon.
With unions losing membership and power nationwide, the 2014 elections were a disaster. But not in Oregon. We won the majority of our targeted races and gained seats in our Legislature.
Why is Oregon on the offense with a legislative agenda that includes raising the minimum wage, fighting for paid sick days, and banning the box, while the rest of the country plays defense? Why have our unions increased to 17 percent of the workforce, bucking the national trend? What makes us unique?
Oregon’s union leaders know that to be successful we must work together and coordinate our resources. Our leadership is strong, experienced, and willing to change with the times.
The Oregon AFL-CIO is different than almost any state labor federation in the country. Most state federations focus 100 percent on elections and legislation. We focus on elections and legislation, but we’re also a grassroots organization that uses our resources to knock on doors, send letters, and make phone calls. We build our grassroots power through a community involvement arm called Oregon Strong Voice, which brings together community-based organizations, students, unions, and more.
The 2014 election was the first time we could provide staff to our Oregon Strong Voice regions of Bend, Eugene and Medford, where 33 percent of our election volunteer shifts occurred. Our electoral efforts have expanded beyond Portland, and our program was instrumental in electing Sara Gelser to the Oregon Senate in Albany and Corvallis, and re-electing Sen. Alan Bates in Southern Oregon. That’s what grassroots power can accomplish.
Oregon is the only state labor federation in the country that directly organizes workers. Over the next two years, we have the potential to bring in more than 2,000 workers to our movement.
Oregon is different because our unions work together, fight together, and lead together.
