The Oregon Labor Dispatch: June 26, 2025
UPCOMING EVENTS
OHSU Rally for a Living Wage
June 27 at Mac Hall Lawn at 4 p.m.
Oregon AFSCME Local 328 and ONA are rallying for living wages at OHSU.
July 19 & 20 in Portland
Join Oregon’s Labor Movement at Portland’s Pride Waterfront Festival and Parade. The Oregon AFL-CIO and affiliates will have a booth at Pride and will march in the parade on Sunday. If a member of your union’s LGBTQIA+ affinity group would like to participate in planning or aid in turn-out, please have them contact emily@oraflcio.org.
TAKE ACTION
Oppose the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act"
Congress is considering slashing Medicaid to fund a massive tax cut for the rich.
This bill will devastate the working class that makes our state and country run. Write to your senator to protect our healthcare.
MAKE A CALL: Tell the Senate to Say NO to Big Tech’s AI Overreach
In the “big, ugly” budget reconciliation bill that could be passed this week in the U.S. Senate, lawmakers snuck in a provision that would ban the creation or enforcement of all current or future state and local AI safety rules for the next 10 years.
RESOURCES
The Oregon AFL-CIO’s compendium of resources to address federal threats against workers from immigration to LGBTQIA+ rights.
MUST READ
Oregon governor signs bill providing unemployment pay for striking workers
June 25, 2025 | OPB/AP
Democratic Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek on Tuesday signed into law a bill that provides unemployment benefits to striking workers, following neighboring Washington state in adopting measures spurred by recent walkouts by Boeing factory workers, hospital nurses and teachers in the Pacific Northwest.
“End the ICE raids now” by Graham Trainor
June 20, 2025 | NW Labor Press
Read Oregon AFL-CIO President Graham Trainor’s most recent column for the NW Labor Press.
OREGON LABOR
Bill to help fund ballpark in bid to bring MLB to Portland passes House, heads to governor's desk
June 17, 2025 | KGW
State bonds to fund and build an MLB ballpark in Portland have passed in Oregon thanks to the hard work of lawmakers and workers. This ballpark and surrounding development will be one of the most pro-union projects in our state’s history!
FEDERAL ATTACKS
Trump’s OSHA Nominee Has a History With Heat and UPS Drivers
June 25, 2025 | The New York Times
Rebecca Reindel, director of occupational safety at the AFL-CIO, which represents 15 million workers across a range of industries, said the lack of heat regulations in most states left workers vulnerable and made federal standards critical. “Letting employers address heat however they want, with no rules whatsoever, is what we have now in most places,” she said.
Trump pressures Congress on his 'big beautiful bill' as debate clouds path forward
June 24, 2025 | Reuters
President Donald Trump on Tuesday stepped up pressure on Republicans in the U.S. Senate to advance his sweeping tax-cut and spending bill this week, as party hardliners and moderates squabbled over proposed spending cuts.
Trump administration scrambles to rehire key federal workers after DOGE firings
June 24, 2025 | CNN
Federal agencies are rehiring and ordering back from leave some of the employees who were laid off in the weeks after President Donald Trump took office as they scramble to fill critical gaps in services left by the Department of Government Efficiency-led effort to shrink the federal workforce.
ATTACKS ON IMMIGRANTS
Returned deportee Abrego to be released without bail, but faces US immigration custody
June 25, 2025 | Reuters
A U.S. judge said on Wednesday she would order the release of Kilmar Abrego.
THE LABOR MOVEMENT
A Tech-Backed Influencer Wants to Replace Teachers With AI
June 26, 2025 | JacobinBacked by tech money, entrepreneur MacKenzie Price is growing a network of private K–12 schools that promises to replace all classroom teachers with an “AI tutor” that students learn from while glued to their laptop screens.
STRIKES & COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
Thousands of workers could strike at Albertsons, Safeway stores in several states
June 25, 2025 | USA Today
Union workers at supermarkets such as Albertsons, Safeway and Kroger are seeking improved work conditions and wages and many are authorizing strikes as a way to get their demands.
THE ECONOMY
Fed split on whether to hedge on inflation, or proceed with cuts
June 20, 2025 | Reuters
The close split in the U.S. Federal Reserve over whether to keep hedging against inflation risks or move forward faster with rate cuts came through on Friday in the first public comments from policymakers following a decision this week to hold borrowing costs steady for now.
GRAPHICS TO SHARE
2025 OREGON MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE COMMUNICATIONS TOOLKIT
On July 1, Oregon’s minimum wage will increase across the state. These increases are the result of legislation that passed in 2016 because of hard work and advocacy on the part of Oregon unions and allies. Each year we celebrate this significant step forward for minimum wage workers, while also highlighting the work that still needs to be done