Strike & Collective Bargaining Support: Mobilizing Oregon Labor to Active Picket Lines
The Oregon AFL-CIO consistently mobilized union members to support strikes throughout the year, including machinists at Boeing, nurses at Providence, graduate employees at OSU, educators in Albany, home health workers in Lane County, Teamsters at Bigfoot Beverages in 5 cities, bakers in Eugene, food and commercial workers at Fred Meyer grocery stores, and Benton County workers.
We kept the Oregon AFL-CIO Strike Map updated all year long and used it effectively to mobilize union members, workers, and our allies to picket lines in 7 cities across the state.
We found new ways to help affiliates on strike and during collective bargaining efforts as well, including embedding our entire team into various roles to support ONA members on strike at Providence in June.
Labor 2024: Winning for Workers at the Ballot Box
The 2024 Primary election saw decisive victories in each of the races the Oregon AFL-CIO engaged in and allowed us to experiment with some new tactics to secure victory for key labor champions – nearly one-third of whom are current or former union members. We were able to strategically use the Primary campaign season to heavily engage in select key races that resulted in sending two new union members and labor champions to the Oregon legislature. Together, we:
Knocked on over 7,600 doors
Made over 6,700 phone calls
IDed almost 3000 voters
Completed 7 worksite flyering shifts with several unions participating with hundreds of flyers distributed
Filled over 320 volunteer shifts from over 20 union affiliates and partner groups
Sent over 50,000 pieces of mail
Directed over 1,000 voters and activists to oraflcio.org/vote, our hub for everything related to endorsements, voting, and volunteering
In November’s general election, Oregon Labor stood together to win nearly all of our endorsed races, ensuring super majorities in both chambers of our legislature, electing champions for workers to three statewide offices, and proudly being the only state to flip a Congressional district to a pro-worker leader AND gain pro-workers seats in both chambers of the legislature. In addition to these wins, we also passed a ballot measure which allows cannabis workers to unionize, the first expansion of union organizing rights in over twenty years. Here’s how we did it:
Knocked on over 65,500 doors
Made over 66,000 phone calls
IDed over 30,000 voters
Filled over 738 volunteer shifts and 638 paid canvass shifts from 25 union affiliates and partner groups
Sent over 250,000 pieces of mail
Reached over 44,000 voters through digital advertisements
Events & Training: Growing Skills, Building Relationships
In 2024 the Oregon AFL-CIO held more multi-union events and trainings then any other year in organizational history.
In January, we held the first-ever Oregon Labor Strike School, drawing over 100 union members, leaders, and staff from across the state. The success of this event paved the way for the next one, scheduled for February 1, 2025. Additionally, we hosted the 2024 Oregon Labor Organizing Summit, which featured AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and organizing experts from across the country.
To further build Oregon’s labor ranks, we organized a three-day Organizing Institute and trained staff to run our own future sessions, with plans to hold one per quarter in 2025.
To cap off an incredible year for Oregon Labor, we hosted the inaugural Oregon Women Labor Leaders (OWLL) summit on December 14. This event brought together dozens of union women to rebuild, recharge, and rise, marking a powerful step in supporting and empowering women in the labor movement.
Legislative Advocacy: Fighting for Workers Through Policy
We were excited to see a wide range of pro-worker and pro-union legislation pass during Oregon’s off-year “short session,” a month-long sprint to turn our values, goals, and ideas into laws that benefit workers. Our wins in 2024 included defending and protecting behavioral health workers, education workers, and public employees among many others signed into law, as well as our priority bill to ensure labor standards are a part of all offshore wind development. We look forward to building off these victories in 2025 and are planning a range of ways to engage union members in our efforts, including a lobby day, rally, campaigns to contact legislators directly, and organizing workers to testify before legislative committees where their experience will be essential to helping lawmakers understand what’s at stake.
Communications: Telling Oregon Labor’s Story
The Oregon AFL-CIO Communications Department was successful in sharing Oregon Labor’s story through the press, on television and radio, and through social media and digital methods.
Our social media posts were seen over 1 million times
The Oregon AFL-CIO was mentioned in over 50 news stories
News stories mentioning the Oregon AFL-CIO reached over 4.5 million people
In addition to telling Oregon Labor’s story, the Oregon AFL-CIO Communications Department won two awards in 2024: The International Labor Communications Association awarded us first place in the local/regional/state category for best infographic for our Strike Map and best short video for the 2023 Oregon AFL-CIO Convention’s opening ceremony video.
Workforce: Supporting Oregon’s Workers
Our Workforce program made significant strides in member assistance, addressing various unemployment issues and intensifying efforts to identify trade-impacted, union-represented facilities. We worked with Oregon's Central Trade Act unit to cross-check reduced members against open trade petitions. In the second half of the year, we refocused on engaging labor representatives, filling board vacancies, nominating skilled union representatives, and holding quarterly communication meetings to strengthen labor's voice. Key firsts included nominating a labor-friendly employer to a workforce board, providing unemployment information sessions to affiliate members, and hosting our first unemployment clinic in Portland, with plans for future expansion.
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