2025 Oregon AFL-CIO Convention Report
It began 1 p.m. Sept. 5 with bagpipes, an honor guard, and a minister’s blessing, and ended late a day later with a march to a beachside promenade. The 2005 Oregon AFL-CIO convention drew 245 delegates and 80-some honorary delegates and guests to the Seaside Convention Center, and the goal above all was for attendees to leave inspired.
It was the first statewide convention since SEIU rejoined the AFL-CIO and Local 503 returned to the state labor federation, and their added numbers contributed to larger than previous attendance.
In between the opening and closing gavels were two hours of speeches, 90 minutes of workshops, an awards dinner, committee meetings, and panels promoting convention resolutions on climate change, immigration, and trans rights.
As with every state AFL-CIO convention, delegates heard progress reports from the political leaders labor helped to elect. Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield used his appearance to announce his office will be rolling out a “working families” unit, details to come.
Labor Commissioner Christina Stephenson won applause at her report of an 245% increase in employer penalties since she took office in 2023 — and the $600,000 returned to workers in wage theft cases.
State representative Dacia Grayber, who attended as a convention delegate for the fire fighters union, got a hero’s welcome for her work as head of the House labor committee. Not only did she win the federation’s “legislator of the year” award for the second convention in a row, but she also received a surprise early endorsement for re-election, approved the day before at a meeting of the federation’s Committee on Political Education.
Tina Kotek — teased in the agenda as a “special guest speaker”— used her time on stage to run through a playlist of greatest hits from 18 years as legislator and governor, and what a list it was: Kotek had a hand in passing or signing card check union recognition for public employees, a $15+ minimum wage, paid sick leave, fair notice of schedules for retail workers, paid family leave, staffing ratios for health care workers, a big boost in labor bureau funding, prevailing wage for offsite fabrication, a ban on employer antiunion meetings, and more. Kotek wrapped up with a ceremonial signing into law of the most significant labor bill to pass this year, granting unemployment benefits to locked out and striking workers.
It’s in the nature of a convention that there be at least some contention. A handful of delegates set up outside the meeting hall to greet Senator Ron Wyden’s arrival with signs in support of a resolution on Gaza. And on Day 2, delegates leaving for lunch walked past an informational picket by the Teamster-represented staff of Oregon Nurses Association protesting lack of progress in bargaining a new contract.
Throughout the convention, however, an atmosphere of unity prevailed. Skillful compromise in committee meetings and behind the scenes limited the length and heat of debate on resolutions.
Flanked by union advocates who helped push it to passage, Oregon Governor Tina Kotek signs SB 916 into law. | Photos by Matthew Wright, courtesy of Oregon AFL-CIO.
Rated
Unlike the national and Washington AFL-CIO, which rate lawmakers according to their votes on key priorities, Oregon AFL-CIO uses a subjective rating system that takes into account actions legislators take for and against labor behind the scenes.
Platinum
- State representatives Dacia Grayber, Lisa Fragala, Ben Bowman, Lesly Munoz, Willy Chotzen, Jason Kropf, Travis Nelson, Rob Nosse, Nathan Sosa
- State Senators Kathleen Taylor, Kayse Jama, Chris Gorsek
Gold
- State representatives Julie Fahey, Tom Andersen, Farrah Chaichi, April Dobson, Zack Hudson, Sara Finger McDonald, Nancy Nathanson, Hoa Nguyen, Sue Rieke Smith, Ricki Ruiz, Jules Walters
- State Senators Rob Wagner, Deb Patterson, Kate Lieber, Anthony Broadman, Wlnsvey Campos, Sarah Gelser Blouin, Lew Frederick, Floyd Prozanski, Lisa Reynolds
Oregon AFSCME political staff member Brooke Hill, honored as a Working Class Hero for her work during the 2024 election cycle.
Honored
Conventioneers lauded those who went above and beyond.
Top honors
- Lifetime Champion IBEW Local 932 business manager Robert Westerman, for decades of union leadership and serving working families in rural Oregon
- Hold the Line award Five unions were honored for striking and holding the line for a fair contract, helping revitalize the labor movement: UFCW Local 555 at Kaiser Permanente and Fred Meyer, Oregon Nurses Association at Providence Health System, AFSCME at Yamhill County, Coalition of Graduate Employees at Oregon State University, and Machinists at Boeing
- Tom Chamberlain Working Class Hero award Brooke Hill of Oregon AFSCME for mobilizing members, leading by example, and building power for workesr through the 2024 political program
- Aida Aranda Woman Leading in Labor award Bakers Local 364 member Donna Marks who stepped up to helped pass the bill giving unemployment benefits to striking workers
- Building Power Together University of Oregon Campus Labor Council, for fostering a culture of solidarity across the UO campus (a coalition including GTFF, UA, SEIU 503 085, UO student workers)
Organizing awards
- Organizing Powerhouse Oregon Nurses Association for organizing three Legacy hospitals and Oregon AFSCME for organizing researchers at OHSU
- Innovations in Organizing SEIU Local 503 for building power in the long-term care industry, and Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals for organizing LabCorp workers when hospitals contracted out lab work.
Political campaigner awards
- Phenomenal phone banking Oregon Nurses Association for completing the most phone-banking shifts
- Door knocking powerhouse Laborers for completing the most canvass shifts
- Political people power SEIU Local 503 for completing the most canvass and phone bank shifts
Legislator awards
- Legislator of the Year State Rep. Dacia Grayber (D-Tualatin)
- Freshman of the Year State Rep. Lisa Fragala (D-Eugene)
- Working Class Warrior Senate Labor Committee Chair Kathleen Taylor (D-Portland) for ensuring that SB 916 passed
Resolved
Delegates from affiliated unions were able to transact the official business of the convention — setting policy for the labor federation — in about two hours on the second day. Delegates didn’t say yes to every proposal. Several resolutions calling for a general strike were ruled out of order because the AFL-CIO’s constitution says its up to affiilates to call strikes of their members, not the federation itself. And several sets of similar resolutions were merged. But most resolutions, either in original form or as amended, won with either unanimous or overwhelming support. Here’s a summary of those that delegates approved.
- Endorse and support the Equal Rights for All ballot measure on the 2026 ballot, which would add the right to abortion and transgender rights to the Oregon constitution. (submitted by Oregon AFL-CIO executive board)
- Adopt higher education funding as a priority and work for funding increases. (submitted by Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation and Coalition of Graduate Employees)
- Urge Oregon policymakers to increase Oregon OSHA safety compliance personnel. (submitted by UFCW Local 555)
- Urge lawmakers to tax large employers that pay substandard wages such that their employees rely on public support programs like Medicaid. (submitted by UFCW Local 555)
- Work to pass a state constitutional amendment guaranteeing workers right to organize, similar to one passed by voters in Illinois. (submitted by Northwest Oregon Labor Council)
- Work to support spending of taxpayer funds on U.S. made products and services. (submitted by United Steelworkers)
- Work with Oregon building trades unions and affiliates to lead efforts to attract investment in carbon-free and low-carbon energy and do so in a way that promotes unionization in development, construction, manufacturing, and operation and in a way that increases employment for women, black, indigenous, and other workers of color and LGTBQIA workers, and also promote transit, multi-modal transportation, zero-emission vehicles and buses, new clean energy facilities, and manufacturing to provide a made-in-Oregon or made-in-America supply chain, and organize and launch a climate jobs coalition that will help coordinate, research, educate, strategize, and drive work necessary to implement a labor-led and worker-centered approach to green energy development that is data-driven and meets the needs of all Oregonians who want a viable, resilient, healthy future for themselves and their families. (submitted by Oregon AFL-CIO executive board)
- Create a plan to increase the Oregon AFL-CIO’s capacity to train organizers, and encourage affiliates to engage in joint organizing efforts for the next two years and report back at the 2027 convention. (submitted by Oregon AFL-CIO executive board)
- Oppose federal attacks on union members and declare solidarity with federal workers. (submitted by Oregon State Association of Letter Carriers)
- Join the United Farm Workers in calling for a boycott of all Windmill Mushroom products until the company agrees to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement with UFW, and support efforts to educate the public about the campaign. (submitted by Oregon AFL-CIO executive board)
- Support stronger rent control and tenant protections in the 2027 legislative session, as well as policies aimed at increasing the supply of affordable housing while protecting prevailing wage and labor standards. (submitted by Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation)
- Support legislation enacting an Oregon senior ombudsman program. (submitted by AFT-Oregon retirees chapter)
- Deem President Trump’s actions to be an open declaration of a War on Blackness, and denounce the racist targeting of Black leaders, Black populations and institutions that teach and elevate Black history and culture. (submitted by Oregon Coalition of Black Trade Unionists)
- Expand the Oregon AFL-CIO Executive Board to include up to four seats for representatives of active constituency groups. (Constituency groups are AFL-CIO-chartered organizations made up of union activists from different unions that are meant to connect to specific demographic communities, such as Black, Asian-Pacific, Latin American, women, and LGBT workers; veterans; and retirees. (submitted by Oregon AFL-CIO executive board)
- Increasing the size of the Oregon AFL-CIO Executive Board by three seats to 35, allow future increases by majority vote of the board to add seats for newly affiliated unions that have large numbers of members, and broaden the window for biennial conventions to the second half of odd-numbered years. (submitted by Oregon AFL-CIO executive board)
- Work with affiliates to make sure educational resources are available to union members and work to ensure that members know how to fight back so that authoritarianism does not take hold in Oregon or the United States. (submitted by Oregon AFL-CIO executive board)
- Support Oregon’s sanctuary laws and urge the state to properly investigate violations of such laws, and oppose AI-monitoring systems that broadly target the general public for surveillance. (submitted by Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation)
- Urges the national AFL-CIO to call for a ceasefire in Gaza and suspension of U.S. weapons transfers to Israel, and to reconsider its position against divesting Israel bonds, and actively seek to inform members about the humanitarian impact of the conflict. (Submitted by AFSCME Local 88)
- Work with affiiated unions on plans for rapid response to immigration raids, including protests, non-violent civil disobedience, and know-your-rights trainings. (Submitted by AFSCME Local 88)
