The Oregon Labor Dispatch: October 30, 2025
RESOURCES
How to Stay Fed During the SNAP Shutdown
If Congress does not act to pass an equitable and just budget by Oct 31, food assistance will end for 750,000 lower income Oregonians. Here are resources for Oregonian community members to stay fed until the federal government shutdown ends.
Resources for Federal Workers Impacted by Government Shutdown
🚨It’s day 30 of the government shutdown, and federal workers are hurting. If you’ve been impacted by the shutdown, view our Oregon-specific and federal resources for government workers.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Free Showing of PARTNERS
Nov. 2 at 3pm at 5th Avenue Cinema
The film, produced by Working Films, a national nonprofit organization based in North Carolina, tells the story of how Starbucks baristas started a labor revolution, featuring on-the-ground footage from workers and organizers. The film will be followed by a panel discussion and Q/A session with Chris Sessions, the film maker, and two Portland-area Starbucks Workers United union members.
Independent Police Review Workers Provide City With 10 Day Strike Notice
Nov. 5 at Portland City Hall
The 11 represented employees of AFSCME Local 189-005 - the City of Portland's Independent Police Review - are preparing to go on strike starting November 5th. This is their first ever strike and our Local has pledged solidarity no matter how long it takes. Sign up to provide strike support to these workers!
MUST READ
Black Americans Cannot Afford the Trump Administration’s Health Care Cost Spike
Oct. 27, 2025 | Black Press USA
This Saturday marks one month of the federal government shutdown. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers—nearly 20% of whom are Black and 30% of whom are veterans—are missing their second paycheck. Families across the country will be forced to choose between paying for groceries, rent and medical care.
Oregon is not a military target
Oct. 15, 2025 | NW Labor Press
Read Oregon AFL-CIO President Graham Trainor’s latest piece in the Northwest Labor Press.
OREGON LABOR NEWS
Oregon Gov. Kotek sends $5 million to food banks as SNAP cutoff date gets closer
Oct. 29, 2025 | OPB
Gov. Tina Kotek announced she’s sending $5 million in state funding to food banks on Wednesday as Oregon braces for a cutoff of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program expected at the start of November.
700 OHSU medical professionals vote to authorize strike
Oct. 30, 2025 | Oregonian
About 700 nurse practitioners, physician associates and nurse midwives at Oregon Health & Science University have voted by a wide margin to authorize a strike.
Oregon Joins Suit Arguing Trump’s Planned SNAP Pause Is Illegal
Oct. 28, 2025 | Willamette Week
Arguing that the Trump administration is using the federal shutdown as a false pretext to illegally halt a key food assistance program, Oregon joined about two dozen other states and governors on Tuesday in a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
FEDERAL ATTACKS
Obamacare insurance prices will jump up 26% next year, report predicts
Oct. 29, 2025 | The Guardian
People in the US shopping for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplaces will face a steep 26% average price increase next year, according to new analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation released just days before enrollment begins on 1 November.
Food aid for 42 million imperiled by shutdown politics, as Trump tests law
Oct. 29, 2025 | Reuters
Nearly 42 million people are set to lose food aid due to the second-longest U.S. government shutdown, as Democrats and Republicans in Congress continue to blame each other for a weeks-long legislative stalemate. Neither party was showing signs of changing its position days before funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps, is set to lapse beginning on Saturday.
Largest federal workers union calls for ‘clean’ bill to end shutdown
Oct. 27, 2025 | The Washington Post
The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents more than 800,000 federal and D.C. government workers, said in a statement Monday that the shutdown is punishing the very people who keep the country running.
ATTACKS ON IMMIGRANTS
Trump Admin Makes Abrupt Change to Thousands of Immigrant Work Permits
Oct. 29, 2025 | Newsweek
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is moving to end the automatic extension of certain immigrant work permits, even if they have filed their new paperwork on time.
California Labor Leader's Felony Charge Over Immigration Protest Is Reduced
Oct. 20, 2025 | Associated Press
The leader of a labor union in Southern California who was arrested while protesting an immigration raid earlier this year will have his felony obstruction charge reduced to a misdemeanor, court records show.
THE LABOR MOVEMENT
How Major Labor Unions are Positioning on AI
Oct. 28, 2025 | Tech Policy Press
So far, unions in the United States have adopted a fairly consistent tone on AI: that the technology has the potential to improve productivity and benefit society, but workers need to be involved in where and how it is deployed. The AFL-CIO, a federation of 63 unions representing roughly 15 million workers, typified that posture in a report published earlier this month.
SNAP SHUTDOWN TOOLKIT
If Congress does not act to pass an equitable and just budget by Oct. 31, food assistance will end for 750,000 lower income Oregonians. That’s 1 in 6 Oregonians. Working class Oregonians rely on SNAP to keep themselves and their families fed. The Trump administration is using these benefits as a pawn to pass a budget that favors billionaires over workers.
We have created a toolkit for you to use to communicate with your community about this devastating change in benefits. The toolkit includes a toplines messaging guide, resources, information on how to help, and social media captions and graphics.
If you have a news story, event or action you’d like to see featured in the Oregon Labor Dispatch please reply to this email or email us at communications@oraflcio.org.