Demoralizing. Terrifying. Destabilizing. Gut wrenching. Anxiety-inducing. The list goes on of the ways we in the labor movement are describing the results of the 2024 presidential election. We all share in this grief as we process and prepare for the path ahead.
America’s unions proudly stood with Vice President Kamala Harris throughout her historic campaign, and we remain committed to its principles — to empower working families and move our country forward, not backward.
Now the voters have spoken, and their will, along with a peaceful transfer of power, must be respected. Presidential administrations change, but the values of the labor movement do not. The reality is that workers today face the same threat we faced before the election — rampant corporate greed where profits are prioritized over the needs and value of people. Our fight to build a fair economy and allow every worker the freedom to join a union remains undeterred.
No matter who is in the White House, we stand united to fight for a brighter future for working families. We know the attacks are coming, through the Project 2025 agenda, and Oregon labor is committed to resist these attacks on our unions, our communities, and our fundamental freedoms. No one — not Donald Trump or J.D. Vance, nor any boss or CEO — can stop the solidarity of the labor movement.
That solidarity was most recently on display during our robust Labor 2024 political program, where hundreds of union members focused on the things we could truly be the difference-maker in: state and local elections. Since Labor Day, Oregon labor united around dozens of candidates and campaigns of common interest, races that we knew would impact the lives of working Oregonians. And that’s why on election night, we first celebrated that incredible collective work even as the national news started to trickle in. We honored affiliate unions and activists for all they did to hold the line in Oregon by filling over 1,200 canvass and phone bank shifts, knocking on over 70,000 doors, making tens of thousands of phone calls, and talking to countless fellow members at the worksite over the past nine weeks.
And here in Oregon, we are proud of that work paying off as we further strengthened the pro-union, pro-worker wall we’ve built on the West Coast. We helped ensure our Congressional delegation reflected the Oregon that we’re so proud of — five incredible pro-worker women leaders, three of which are former union members. Labor-endorsed candidates won all statewide races. That includes Dan Rayfield as our next attorney general, who is committed to creating the first Working Families Unit within the Oregon AG’s office. We defeated a dangerous ballot measure that would’ve decimated our state budget. We passed a ballot measure to expand union organizing rights for cannabis workers. We defended and expanded significant pro-union majorities in our state legislature. And we were able to celebrate a major milestone across all of our endorsements as well — over a third of all Oregon-labor-endorsed candidates in the 2024 election were either current or former union members or staff. This showcases the effectiveness of our movement even in the face of an uncertain federal outlook.
Oregon’s future is in good hands, and we’re immensely proud of our work to both elect new champions for working people along with reelected leaders with proven track records of standing up for workers. And in the coming years, no matter what threats come at our unions, at our families, at our immigrant siblings, at our LGBTQ+ siblings, at our fundamental freedoms, or at our democracy, the Oregon labor movement will be in the trenches with our communities to make damn sure that we don’t go back. See you in the streets!
