Graham Trainor is seeking election as president of the Oregon AFL-CIO — together on a slate with Christy O’Neill for secretary-treasurer. The Oregon AFL-CIO is the federation that most of the state’s unions belong to; it coordinates their political work and assists affiliates with union organizing.
The election will take place at the organization’s next biennial convention, September 19-22 in Seaside. Tom Chamberlain and Barbara Byrd, the current president and secretary-treasurer, aren’t seeking re-election. No other candidates have declared.
Trainor is currently Oregon AFL-CIO chief of staff. A native of Indiana, he moved to Oregon in 2006 and worked as Oregon state director of Working America, the AFL-CIO’s program for workers who don’t have a union in their workplace. He went to work for the Oregon AFL-CIO in 2008, first as field director and later as political director. He’s a member IBEW Local 48, which represents Oregon AFL-CIO staff.
O’Neill is a teacher at Southern Oregon Head Start and first vice president of Oregon AFSCME. A native of Eagle Point, Oregon, she went to work at Head Start in 2007, and was elected president of her union, AFSCME Local 2619, in 2013. She’s also a delegate to the Southern Oregon Central Labor Chapter.
As of their public campaign launch April 11, the two listed the endorsements of 30 labor organizations.
Trainor and O’Neill outline their vision on a campaign website, oregonlaborforward.org. Among other things, they propose to maintain a focus on strategic organizing, prioritize racial and gender justice, and continue to grow the political field program.
