Randi Weingarten, international president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) was in Portland Oct. 23 to campaign for the re-election of Oregon Governor Kate Brown.
First stop was a press conference with Kaiser Sunnyside Medical Center nurses who are represented by the AFT — to discuss Brown’s efforts to protect the Affordable Care Act for all Oregonians — including people covered by Oregon’s Medicaid expansion and people with pre-existing conditions.
“You have a governor in this state who is doing everything in her power to ensure that people have the health care they need in Oregon,” Weingarten said. Oregon has expanded its health care coverage to nearly 95 percent of adults and 100 percent of children.
Later, Weingarten and Brown joined Oregon AFL-CIO President Tom Chamberlain at the Oregon Labor Center to phone bank union members, encouraging them to vote for candidates who support a pro-worker agenda.
The visit ended with a student debt clinic hosted by AFT, where Weingarten and Brown discussed student loan forgiveness. Governor Brown has received endorsements from most labor unions in the state, as well as the Oregon AFL-CIO.
