It’s that time of year again, with campaigns in full-swing making their case to Oregonians. And in the labor movement, we often talk about why our collective engagement in political action is vital. Here are a few things the political work done by union activists isn’t about: feeling good about ourselves; because we all just love canvassing; to snap selfies with elected officials and candidates. Let’s be crystal clear about our movement’s focus during election season: we work on campaigns to build power for working Oregonians; to ensure the priorities and the values of working people are reflected in our endorsed candidates; and to stand with those who will be champions for the agenda of working people. Period, full stop.
And as the road to the White House runs right through America’s union halls in 2024, the road to any Congressional, statewide, or state legislative victory in Oregon runs through our union halls as well. Because here in Oregon, we have high expectations of our elected leaders. We expect them not to just say the right things, but to embody our values and carry those values into every decision and action they take.
That’s one of the reasons why the Oregon labor movement is all in for Dan Rayfield to be our next Attorney General. Not only has labor stood with him since the first time he ran for public office in 2010, he’s stood with workers in countless ways throughout his career as well. One of those little known, yet incredibly meaningful ways he has shown us his values was when a group of Steelworkers at ATI in Albany were locked out by their employer during a contentious bargaining campaign in late 2015. This meant that even though these workers wanted to go to work, their employer chose to lock them out of negotiations. As a new state legislator from the area, Dan reached out to see how he could help. After walking the line with the workers and asking them what they thought the state legislature could do to help them, the concept of extending unemployment insurance benefits for all workers who have been locked out by their employer came up. That idea generated from thoughtful, curious conversations on a picket line was all it took to put an historic effort in motion by then-representative Rayfield.
At that time, the 2016 Oregon Legislature was just around the corner and the locked out Steelworkers on the line were gearing up for a long, protracted fight. Dan used the end of 2015 and the lead up to the 2016 session to lay the groundwork for passing this critically important bill aimed at giving some much-needed support to these Steelworkers, and any future group of locked out Oregon workers. He built a bipartisan coalition of legislators, he stayed on top of the policy details as conversations with state agencies and other stakeholders progressed, and when the final gavel fell to close out the legislative session in early March, HB 4086 had been passed with overwhelming bipartisan support. The Steelworkers at ATI in Albany had benefited from Dan’s thoughtful, worker-centered, solutions-oriented approach to policy-making, and so will every other worker in Oregon facing a devastating lockout from their employer.
Since then, Dan has continued to showcase his labor values and his ability to get things done for our movement. In 2017, he was awarded Oregon AFL-CIO Legislator of the Year and in 2023 he earned a Platinum award on our scorecard for his continued leadership and effectiveness. He has stood with us on picket lines supporting mechanics, grocery workers, healthcare workers, and more. He has called CEOs and bosses during tough contract negotiations to show his support for working people and their unions. As chief budget-writer for the State House and then as Speaker of the House, he continued to deliver for working people with critical investments in the care economy, public services, and infrastructure, and ensured the entire House Democratic caucus prioritized and passed key legislation to lift up working families.
These are just some of the examples of why we can count on Dan to deliver results for working people and the labor movement as our next Attorney General. Because we know that when he says he’ll do something — like the commitment he has made to create the first Working Families Unit within the Oregon Attorney General’s office — he’ll do it. This will bring unprecedented attention and resources – focused on combating wage theft, child labor, the misclassification of workers as independent contractors, the multi-million dollar union-busting industry, and holding bad actors in our economy accountable – into the future Oregon Attorney General’s office.
As union members get our ballots in the mail soon, we will be carefully looking at the records and the endorsements of all elected officials and candidates to ensure our votes align with our vision of a more fair and just economy for all working people. From the top of the ticket to the bottom of your ballot, the Oregon labor movement will be laser-focused on educating and turning out the hundreds of thousands of union voters and their families in this final stretch.
Go to oraflcio.org/vote to find all of Oregon labor’s endorsements for the November election. By voting labor from the top to bottom of your ballot, we can ensure a future where we win fights to build power for the working class.
Graham Trainor is president of the Oregon AFL-CIO, a federation of unions.
