Last month, Paul Holvey retired after serving 20 years as a state representative in the Oregon House. I recently sat down with Holvey and asked him to reflect on his achievements and the challenges he faced as a legislator who came out of the labor movement.
Holvey drew on his experience as a working carpenter, his position as a union staff member, and his leadership in the Lane County Labor Council to guide him as an elected official. Passionately committed to economic justice and equal treatment, Holvey applied a consistent measuring stick in considering legislation: the impact it would have on the lives of working and middle-class people. In his role as chair of the House Business and Labor Committee, he had an ideal place to act on these commitments.
Holvey played a vital role in advancing legislation that raised living standards for Oregon’s workers. He acted as a strong champion for prevailing wages and labor standards in the building trades throughout his career. In 2016, working with State Senator Michael Dembrow, another veteran of the union movement, he gained legislative approval for hiking the state’s minimum wage. In 2022, Holvey led the fight to require overtime pay for farm workers, making Oregon one of a handful of states to provide this benefit. He secured direct payments to support lower income families during COVID. Holvey also pushed to curb wage theft and the misclassification of workers as independent contractors. These practices harmed some of the state’s most vulnerable workers and led to Holvey’s persistent efforts to enact reforms.
Holvey’s conception of his role evolved when, at the behest of then House Speaker and now U. S. Senator Jeff Merkley, he became chair of the House Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee. He came to realize that business regulation was “joined at the hip” with promoting community well-being. Guided by his mantra of pursuing economic justice and equal treatment, he sought to limit high interest rates on payday loans and predatory mortgages that hurt workers in their roles as consumers. Holvey saw environmental issues through a similar lens. One of his most notable achievements came in 2009 when he overcame fierce opposition and passed legislation ending most field burning, a practice that had long threatened community health. As an early advocate of the Blue-Green Alliance, he sponsored investment requirements for solar use on public project buildings. All these actions reflected Holvey’s superpower as a legislator: his ability to align labor, consumer, and environmental interests as part of his commitment to improve the well-being of the entire community.
This broader sense of responsibility occasionally led Holvey to take positions that disappointed segments of the union movement. In a decision he characterized as “difficult and painful,” he supported cuts in employer PERS contributions to help obtain the votes needed for the billion-dollar funding of the Student Success Act. He also clashed with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union on cannabis legislation, concerned that the proposed law gave up the right to strike and would likely face prolonged legal challenges. As a result, in 2023, the UFCW attempted to recall Holvey. Nearly 90% of Holvey’s constituents rejected the recall, affirming their overwhelming support for his work on their behalf.
Holvey won respect for his willingness to acquiesce to civil conversations and act as an honest broker, while remaining ready to throw down when economic justice and equal treatment were at stake. In the words of his pre-legislative profession, he remained “plumb and true” to these convictions throughout his career as a labor legislator. He leaves behind a proud legacy that has markedly improved the lives of all working Oregonians.
Bob Bussel is professor emeritus at University of Oregon’s Labor Education and Research Center
