Two views on Oregon's 2024 legislative session so far

Our first take on Oregon's 2024 legislative session comes from the Northwest Workers Justice Project (NWJP). NWJP modestly describes their work in the following terms:

NWJP protects workplace dignity by supporting the efforts of low-wage, immigrant and contingent workers to improve wages and working conditions and to eliminate imbalances in power that lead to inequity.

In fact, NWJP does much more and meets their goals and does movement-building. They show up when and where it makes a difference and they ae a more-than-competent progressive voice for worker rights. I am not partial to non-profits, but NWJP is a winning exception. Please support them with a contribution today. Their legislative update says:

We are in an even-numbered year, so that means a short session at the Oregon Legislature. The 35-day session kicked off on February 5th. As most of you probably know, the focus is on housing and Measure 110 (related to drug decriminalization.) Very few bills related to workers were introduced, and even fewer are moving forward on the tight timeline of the short session. We submitted testimony regarding a bad bill that would have undermined Oregon’s strong Pay Equity Law by creating a vague “business necessity” exception. We supported the Oregon AFL-CIO’s successful effort to stop this bad bill from becoming law. NWJP is focused on supporting efforts to fund a number of programs that our client community needs: the Climate Change Fund, the Home Fund and Universal Representation. These funds are part of the larger Oregon Worker Relief Fund, which advocates created during the pandemic to help undocumented Oregonians survive when workplaces were shuttered. The Climate Change Fund grew out of the rulemaking on extreme heat and wildfire smoke. Advocates realized that Oregonians who do not qualify for unemployment insurance, including undocumented workers, need a way to be paid when they have to miss work due to climate emergencies. We are asking for $9 million to replenish this fund. The Home Fund provides financial relief to immigrant Oregonians at risk of eviction and homelessness. NWJP hears from workers every week who are at risk of eviction or who have recently been evicted. We are asking for $6 million for this fund, which is a drop in the bucket of what is needed during our current housing crisis. Finally, Universal Representation (U-Rep) is the idea that all immigrant Oregonians need legal support during immigration proceedings. Studies make clear that immigrants without legal counsel are more likely to be deported. Oregon passed U-Rep in 2022, but the current funding does not meet the great need for this support. The request is $7.5 million. Please send an email as soon as possible to your elected representatives in support of these important budget requests through PCUN’s action alert here. Our second legislative update comes from Oregon AFL-CIO President Graham Trainor. The strength of this report is that it demonstrates how so much of our labor political work is about the nuts-and-bolts of policies that affect our daily lives as workers, things that we often forget until we or someone close to us says, "Hey, I need that!" This is why I keep paying dues to three unions and donating to our poitical action funds. Please join me in doing that. In a press release dated February 23 Brother Trainor offered the following: The 2024 Oregon Legislature is moving at a rapid pace, with many of Oregon Labor’s priority bills moving out of committee, into the budget committee, and onto the floor for votes. We’re excited to see bills defending healthcare workers, education workers, and public employees among many others get closer to becoming law, as well as our priority bill to ensure labor standards are a part of all offshore wind development. With only a few weeks left in this 35-day session, unions and worker advocates are working diligently to ensure as many of our priorities pass as possible before the gavel falls. Here’s an overview of where Oregon Labor legislative priorities are at this point in the short session: HB 4080: Offshore Wind - Strong Labor Standards and Roadmap Directive Led by the Oregon AFL-CIO and a priority of a number of our affiliates, HB 4080 ensures that if and when Offshore Wind Development comes to Oregon, there are strong labor standards required. Oregon has a few opportunities to influence the process to develop Offshore Wind development in federal waters. In addition to strong labor standards like apprenticeship utilization, prevailing wage and living wages and family supporting healthcare, the bill also includes a robust roadmap process to support engagement between offshore wind developers and impacted organizations, communities and tribes. The bill passed on a party-line vote out of the House Business and Labor Committee. SB 1552: Supporting All Education Workers A priority of OSEA, this education omnibus makes important technical fixes to support workers in K-12, higher ed, early learning and redefines educators to finally include classified instead of just teachers. This bill passed unanimously out of the Senate Education committee. SB 1594: Behavioral Health Worker Safety SB 1594 is a priority of Oregon AFSCME to require behavioral health safety plans and include minimum staffing levels and protocols for addressing safety risks at these facilities. These adjustments will help keep clinicians safe and reduce burnout. Furthermore, funding for apprenticeships and training programs will provide more students with the knowledge they need to be successful as clinicians. This bill passed unanimously out of the Senate Health Care committee. SB 1595: Debt Collection Reform Led by a coalition of unions and consumer advocates, SB 1595 offers protections for families and ensures that they can meet their basic needs while facing debt by increasing the amount of take-home pay protected from court seizure or garnishment, protecting the first $2,500 in an individual’s bank account, and increasing the value of a home protected from seizure. These adjustments will offer some stability for working people in times of extreme stress, and better allow them to take care of themselves and their families. The bill passed on a party-line vote in the Senate Labor and Business committee and unanimously in the Senate Finance and Revenue committee. SB 1578: Healthcare Interpreter Portal A priority of Oregon AFSCME, SB 1578 creates a portal for health care interpreters to help streamline the process and give these workers much better wages and benefits, while also improving patient outcomes. This bill passed on a party line vote out of the Senate Health Care committee. HB 4006: Equity for Construction Workers & Contractors A priority of the Ironworkers, HB 4006 requires a contracting agency to accept from contractors surety bonds in lieu of retainage for construction projects and public improvement contracts. This will help ensure that historically and currently marginalized contractors and workers have a fair shot at getting ahead. After a unanimous vote in the House Business and Labor Committee, the bill passed unanimously on the House floor. HB 4045: PERS “High Risk” Tier HB 4045 is a priority of the Firefighter and Oregon AFSCME to help over 3,200 public safety workers qualify for improved retirement benefits. The bill includes state hospital workers and 911 operators into PERS and lowers the retirement age for firefighters. The bill passed unanimously out of the House Emergency Management General Government committee and in the Ways and Means subcommittee. HB 4050: Pay Equity Subversion (opposition) Brought by Oregon Business and Industries, HB 4050 would have subverted Oregon's pay equity law which ensures that women, people of color, and other workers from protected classes are not paid unfairly. We successfully made sure that this bill in its current form does not move forward this session. HB 4077: Incident Reporting Access in Schools A priority of OSEA, HB 4077 takes a massive step toward ensuring education workers feel safe at work and is the next common-sense bill for OSEA’s Work Shouldn’t Hurt campaign. The bill increases access to incident forms after a worker is injured on the job by making an online form that can be completed on a smart phone and computer. This bill passed unanimously out of the House Education committee. HB 4085: Immigration Legal Assistance HB 4085 provides grants to help individuals and families afford immigration legal assistance. In Oregon, we know our communities are most successful when we all feel safe, respected and welcomed. Proactive affirmative immigration legal services will create pathways to citizenship and provide safety, security and stability for our immigrant and refugee communities. This bill passed unanimously out of the House Early Childhood and Human Services Committee. HB 4088: Addressing Violence Against Healthcare Workers HB 4088 creates a pilot program to address and prevent hospital workplace violence and make assaults on hospital workers a Class C felony. This is a priority of ONA, AFSCME and other unions representing healthcare workers. This bill passed nearly unanimously in the House Judiciary Committee. HB 4112: Clean Energy Tech Supply Chain HB 4112 has the potential to make Oregon a regional leader in clean tech manufacturing while promoting good high skilled manufacturing jobs through state procurement preference. This is a priority of the Blue Green Alliance and a number of Building Trades affiliates. This bill passed out of the House Climate, Energy and Environment Committee on a bipartisan vote. HB 4124 & SB 1582: Post-Pandemic Funding for the Arts HB 4124 and SB 1582 allocate funding to help cultural and arts programs who are struggling to bounce back after the pandemic. As union workers at many of these facilities, this is a priority of IATSE and AFM among others. These bills passed nearly unanimously out of the House Economic Development committee and Senate Business and Labor committee. HB 4125: Adjunct Faculty Trend Study Bill AFT-Oregon's priority bill, HB 4125 funds a report on higher education workforce to understand trends and information on the quality of the jobs and governance systems nationwide. This bill passed nearly unanimously out of the House Higher Education Committee. HB 4130: Protecting Against Corporate Control of Healthcare HB 4130 protects against corporatization by closing the LLC/LLP loophole in our current laws. HB4130 also bans non-competes, non-disparagement clauses, and stock transfer restriction agreements to bolster physician independence. These changes will strengthen Oregon’s existing protections against corporate control of healthcare. By doing so, our state will be preventing increased healthcare corporatization and keep healthcare costs low for Oregonians. After a bipartisan vote in the House Health Care committee, it also received a bipartisan vote on the House floor. HB 4158: Expanding Child Care Capacity for Home-Based Providers, Small Centers, and Rural Areas A Fair Shot for All priority, the bill helps fund childcare infrastructure to provide financial assistance grants to child care providers. The bill passed nearly unanimously out of the House Early Childhood committee. Thank you for everything you do to build power for working people! If you have any questions about legislative priorities or how the Oregon AFL-CIO can support your union’s priorities in Salem, please contact Catie Theisen, our Political and Legislative Director. In Solidarity, Graham Trainor President, Oregon AFL-CIO He/Him/His