They’re called bullfighters, but they don’t really “fight” bulls. They’re more like rodeo athletes— clad in bright red — who step between a bucking bull and a fallen rider immediately after a ride. Their goal is to distract the bull using shouts, movement, and physical interference, to make sure the bull rider can safely exit the arena.
In Oregon, as likely as not, you’ll see rodeo bullfighters sporting a union logo. Operating Engineers Local 701, whose members operate cranes and heavy construction equipment, has in recent years established itself as a major sponsor of rodeos througout Oregon, not just the St. Paul Rodeo, above, but also the popular rodeos in Canby, Sisters, and Arlington, the Bull Bash in Klamath Falls, and the 8 Seconds Juneteenth Rodeo at Portland’s Memorial Coliseum that showcases Black cowboys.
Local 701’s sponsorship tradition began with the Arlington Rodeo in 2021 as a way to raise the union’s visibility with rural people — in an area that was seeing a boom in construction of wind and solar farms. Local 701 needed to recruit local workers, and what better gathering to get its name out there than the rodeo circuit?
Today, paid for by Local 701’s Construction Industry Promotion Fund, you’ll see the local’s bright red logo on rodeo cattle grates, banners held aloft by horse riders, and sometimes on the trucks and gear of individual rodeo contestants. And after events, it’s common for the local to get inquiries from potential apprentices.
great job local 701