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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.
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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.