Oregon AFL-CIO’s Unity Team Moves Forward

Oregon AFL-CIO union leaders have embarked on a program to transform the role of state federations in organizing—and Oregon Unity Team organizer Graham Trainor sends us the latest on the project. 

In September 2007, leaders from more than 20 Oregon unions convened in Portland at what was the largest Organizing Summit ever held in the state. The goal was to build Oregon’s union movement by providing cross-union support for one another’s organizing efforts and by maximizing the union movement’s ability to link politics and organizing in unprecedented ways. We call ourselves the Unity Team. 

The Unity Team, in recent days, held a quarterly meeting to discuss the group’s progress and to move the program forward.  

This was by far, the most productive meeting of its kind that we have ever had in Oregon. In order to help prepare our affiliates for the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, the single most important piece of legislation for working people of the past 70 years, and potential dramatic increases in union membership, we must work together with an eye towards building union density in Oregon.   

The group voted to undertake six different projects of varying sizes. These projects will include assisting with home visits for several union organizing drives and turning out members for a rally of another affiliate looking to highlight unfair labor practices of a large corporation.    

Says Oregon AFL-CIO President Tom Chamberlain: 

The aggressive agenda and increased collaboration shown by this group of leaders is inspiring. Despite past hurdles to this group’s unity, we are all interested in one thing: giving workers a voice on the job and allowing them to bargain for a better life. This is our rallying cry. 

Union membership is on the rise nationwide, with 2007 private-sector membership increasing for the first time since 1979. Some 60 million U.S. workers say they would join a union if they could, based on research conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates in December 2006.

Says Oregon AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Barbara Byrd:   

The political will for working together and increasing union density in Oregon is there. It was proven at this week’s meeting, and continued collaboration among our affiliates is critical for the future of Oregon’s labor movement.  

The Oregon AFL-CIO is a federation of unions and nonunion working men and women, representing more than 225,000 working families in Oregon. For more information about the Oregon AFL-CIO and the Unity Team’s program, contact Graham Trainor at 503-804-2031 or visit www.oraflcio.org.   

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