Oregon AFSCME Weighs In With Legislative News & Endorsements

Now that Oregon's special legislative session has concluded we will see more analysis from unions on the session and more endorsements coming out. We will try to capture and post endorsements for races in our area and for certain state races from as many unions as we can. A post for a candidate here does imply support for that candidate from the Marion-Polk-Yamhill Central Labor Chapter or the Oregon AFL-CIO unless noted here or in another post.

Senate Committee Passes Bill to Fully Fund Wildland Firefighter Pay

 

From the AFL-CIO:

Top Cut:
The National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE), affiliated with the Machinists (IAM), is celebrating a major win as the Senate Committee on Appropriations passed the fiscal year 2024 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, which protects current funding for federal wildland firefighter pay.

Why It Matters:
The bill helps support the critical wildland firefighting workforce by funding wildfire preparedness and suppression efforts, protecting agency staffing levels so they can be prepared for the upcoming wildfire season, maintaining pay increases for federal firefighters and investing in the U.S. Forest Service.

“This is a significant development for NFFE members and all federal wildland firefighters,” said NFFE National President Randy Erwin. “For months, these selfless men and women have had to live with the possibility of their pay being cut in half overnight. Many NFFE members have traveled to Washington, DC, contacted their representatives, and done everything they can to advocate for the compensation they deserve by protecting the country on the front lines of the wildfire crisis. Today, their efforts have been recognized and Congress has delivered on their obligations for this year’s fire season.”

Oregon Legislature Passes Historic Investment in Public Safety Workforce

From Oregon AFSCME:

Salem, Oregon - Oregon's 82nd Legislative Assembly passed HB 4045, the Public Safety Workforce Stabilization Act, an historic investment in Oregon's public safety workers.. HB 4045 received overwhelming bipartisan, bicameral support, marking a significant step forward in prioritizing the dedicated workers who serve on the front lines of public safety by allowing them to retire with enhanced benefits.

HB 4045 creates a new "Hazardous" category within the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) for 911 operators as well as nurses and physicians at Oregon State Hospital (OSH) who are members of the Tier 3, Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan (OPSRP). The Public Safety Workforce Stabilization Act also allows all OSPRP members in the Police & Fire category to retire five years earlier with full benefits, changing the retirement age from 60 to 55. This change impacts thousands of workers at the Stabilization and Crisis Unit (SACU) and Department of Corrections (DOC) who day in and day out, experience heightened levels of stress and injuries due to the high levels of physical demand.

"This bill is a game-changer for public safety workers across Oregon. By recognizing the unique challenges and hazards faced by public safety workers, HB 4045 sends a clear message of appreciation for the indispensable contributions 911 operators make to our communities. This change will also make the field more attractive to prospective employees at a time when public safety agencies across the state are facing staffing crises” said Fred Yungbluth, 911 Operator in Clackamas County and President of Oregon AFSCME

"The passage of HB 4045 is what happens when workers who have been physically and mentally drained by harsh working conditions come together and fight for change,” said Joe Baessler, Executive Director for Oregon AFSCME. “Today, we celebrate this policy change that will start to positively impact the lives of thousands of workers who selflessly dedicate themselves to protecting and serving our communities," added Baessler.

With its passage through the Oregon Legislature, HB 4045 now advances to the desk of Governor Kotek, where it is expected to be signed into law.

Solidarity with performing artists needed!

 

Move The Grocery, Farm, and Food Worker Stabilization Act In Oregon---And Let's Get To An Industrial Policy & A Green New Deal

The AFL-CIO posted the following press release today. If I am reading this correctly, and if  the proposal is as it is is described, this will be a great help to food supply chain workers here in Oregon, and would particularly help people here in the Mid-Willamette Valley. A press release from Senator Sherrod Brown's office says that "In 2021, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) created the Farm and Food Workers Relief (FFWR) Grant Program to help farm, grocery, and meatpacking workers with pandemic-related health and safety costs. The first of its kind, the FFWR Grant Program distributed nearly $680 million in competitive grant funding to meat processing, grocery store, and farm workers for expenses incurred due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, FFWR was a one-time grant program. This legislation would make a similar program permanently available during disasters, including natural disasters."

I hope that unions, consumer groups, and progressive organizations here in Oregon get behind this proposal and push hard for it. We need this. Reports from the Oregon Food Bank and the Oregon Center for Public Policy talk about hunger in Oregon and how difficult it is for food banks to keep up with the needs of the people. 

That said, I am also concerned that we have a pro-labor President who is fighting an uphill battle, justifiable worries about inflation, and simple corporate greed pushing up prices and pulling back on services---and we have no industrial policy, no unitary plan in place to rein in wild profiteering and make the necessities of life like housing and healthcare and food and education and public safety affordable. We're talking about human rights here, not luxuries. I'll grant that the economic picture is mixed at the current moment (see here and here and here) but working-class people are still running from crisis to crisis and we're not feeling the impact of the good news that is out there regarding overall wage gains and slowing inflation. The reports mentioned above are real talk. This is having a negative impact on the Democrats and is making it harder to win legislative victories that benefit working-class people in the first place.

We need a forward-looking plan that gets us to well-paying union jobs in a green economy and that builds in equality and equity, housing, healthcare, food, education and public safety as undeniable human rights. As I see it, the present debate over industrial policy is being held captive by the far-right and the enemies of organized labor. We need to recapture that debate and own it. I believe that we would be in a much better place if we were debating how to best implement a national economic plan or policy that represented working-class needs than trying to affect discreet sectors of the economy one by one. And that said, let's get The Grocery, Farm, and Food Worker Stabilization Act passed!    

Here is the AFL-CIO press release:

The Grocery, Farm, and Food Worker Stabilization Act, proposed early last week by Sens. Sherrod Brown and Kirsten Gillibrand, and Rep. Nikki Budzinski, aims to provide support to food supply chain workers during emergencies like natural disasters. The legislation, if passed, would establish a permanent grant program and authorize the appropriation of $50 million to help cover disaster-related health and safety costs for front-line workers critical in efforts to keep food on tables across the country.

During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, grocery and meatpacking workers—many represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW)—were absolutely essential to keeping the rest of the country fed, just like they do when hurricanes and snowstorms strike. UFCW International President Marc Perrone applauded the bill and said in a press release that this dedicated fund would “provide critical funding for essential work during times of crisis and strengthen America’s food supply chain over the long run.”