A Big Week for Labor in the Legislature

A Big Week for Labor in the Legislature

Take Action

The Oregon House will probably be voting on SB 519, the Worker Freedom Act, some time next week. Send you legislator an email and let them know that Oregonians should be able to opt out of meetings on highly personal issues like politics, religion or union organizing without fear of being punished or fired for their decision. You can find out who your representative is and email, call or write them, or send them an email directly on the legislative website. Make sure you only send it to your Representative in the House - the Senate has already passed the Worker Freedom Act!

Legislative Update

Worker Freedom Act Passes Senate

On Monday the Senate passed the SB 519, the Worker Freedom Act. Republican leaders tried to stall a vote, appealed to moderate Democrats who they thought were not in favor of the bill, and drew out debate for almost 2 hours. Ultimately, though, 16 Senators, all Democrats, stood with working Oregonians and passed SB 519. The bill is now in the House, where the Revenue Committee has scheduled it for a hearing later this week.

All Senate Republicans and two Democrats, Senators Burdick and Johnson, voted against the bills, suggesting that it would have unintended consequences and that it was too hard on businesses. Many Republicans declared a conflict of interest, sighting their status as employers both to their legislative staff and in their non-legislative work. President Chamberlain questioned whether or not theses were actually conflicts of interest, sighting that the first case would not fall under the bill (because politics is the main business of a legislator, their offices would be exempt from the provisions of the bill regarding politics), and questioning the second case because "SB 519 simply states that an employer can't discipline or fire a worker for opting out of a meeting on one of these topics. Are our Senators, and are the business associations who opposed this bill, upset that we are limiting their right to fire a worker who disagrees with their political or religious views? That's all this bill does."

On the heels of this bill passing we heard about a case where SB 519 is truly needed - we got a call about a worker who is in the middle of an organizing drive. Earlier this week the person and their coworkers were called into meetings in small groups to discuss why unionizing was a mistake. It sounds like the person's, and one of their coworker's, reactions in the meetings earned them a pretty steep punishment from someone else at work. They asked to remain anonymous, but their story makes it ever more clear that Oregonians need the Worker Freedom Act.

Healthcare Reform Passes House

While the Senate was debating SB 519, the House passed two health care bills that have the potential to increase access and improve affordability of healthcare for all Oregonians.

HB 2116, which will bring in billions of federal matching funds, expands health care coverage to thousands of Oregonians - mostly children and low-income families who don't have employer-provided health care. Ensuring that more Oregonians have access to healthcare means there will be less people visiting the emergency room unable to pay for their care, and that lowers costs for all of us in the long run.

HB 2009 consolidates all of the various agencies and committees that are involved in healthcare into one group so that Oregon can start to have a more efficient health care system that ensures that various groups are working together to increase care and decrease costs. Ultimately this organization, and the Oregon Health Policy Board that will oversee it, will create a public insurance option that Oregonians can buy into if they don't like their current insurance plan, and will begin looking for ways to help Oregonians receive better care at an affordable price.

These two measures have the potential to put Oregon, once again, at the forefront of health reform.

Revenue and Budgets

The House and Senate are both considering a series of votes this week to ensure that services are available for Oregonians who need them, and that all individuals and businesses are stepping up and paying their fair share to provide these vital services.

The House has passed a few important measures already this week; one of them didn't make it out of the Senate today - it failed by one vote. That one vote could have a big impact on the lives of thousands of Oregonians who depend on the funding carried in that budget to provide services that their friends and neighbors depend on.

In Other News...

Healthcare reform is starting to move in Washington, D.C., where Senator Edwards' committee released their Americans Health Choices Act earlier this week. We are still committed to supporting a plan that won't increase your costs, and that will provide you with options - the option to keep what you have, to find something else affordable, or to choose a public option - that all offer high quality healthcare.