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THE ASTORIAN • TuESdAy, SEpTEmbER 7, 2021
OPINION
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GUEST COLUMN
Working people deserve bold action
T
he stories have become so
commonplace they often go
unnoticed.
We know through newspapers, tele-
vision and social media that we are in a
crisis. We see it on the masked faces of
children in school, unsure that another
way of life is possible. We see it in
full emergency rooms, beds rolled into
hallways and ambulances told to go
somewhere else.
We see it in the shad-
ows beneath the eyes
of workers toiling long
hours for supremely
profitable corporations,
no longer given thanks
or called heroes for
GRAHAM
carrying a heavy load
TRAINOR
during what we used
to call unprecedented
times. The numbing effect of so much
change, transition and trauma takes a
collective toll on us all.
Working people from every back-
ground and in every sector of our
economy are carrying us through this
moment in time, and they deserve to be
honored and respected every day and
especially on Labor Day. We all need
to take action to honor them.
I have found so much inspiration
in the bravery of workers in northeast
Portland at Nabisco who commanded
respect by walking out of the fac-
tory in early August onto a picket line.
These workers were forced on strike,
over simply holding the line for fair-
ness, respect and safety in their work-
place after years of watching their
work get sent out of the country in
search of cheaper and more dangerous
labor. And they did so after over a year
of working grueling shifts in pandemic
conditions so that families across the
country could enjoy snacks we have
come to expect as a staple on grocery
shelves, all while Nabisco and its par-
ent company, Mondelez, made record
profits.
Their bravery is commendable, and
their fight for economic equality is part
of the disappearing analysis of the pan-
demic: The compensation of a CEO is
350 times higher than that of the aver-
age worker.
Portland’s Nabisco strike set off
a wave of activism, with the major-
ity of Nabisco facilities in the United
States joining the picket line. I believe
it will inspire more workers to decide
“enough is enough” and fight for their
rights at work as well, and hope this
Associated Press
Unions organize for better pay, benefits and working conditions.
Labor Day is a time of inspiration for
working people. Unfortunately for
many workers, the ability to experience
the life changing, transformative power
of joining a union is hard to come by,
despite half of nonunion workers being
ready to join together in one for better
pay, benefits and working conditions.
Every day, I am deeply inspired by
and grateful for the continued strength
and sacrifice of health care workers. As
we know, the surge of COVID-19 has
pushed Oregon’s hospitals to a crisis
point. With less hospital beds per cap-
ita than most other states, we were not
ready for the initial COVID-19 out-
break and certainly not prepared for
the delta variant, which has spread rap-
idly among the unvaccinated.
The headlines have been full
of health care workers and leaders
describing unfathomable circumstances
to accommodate new patients, and it’s
critical that every day — but partic-
ularly Labor Day — we all reflect on
what that means for frontline workers
and their families.
The bold changes needed for our
communities, state and country must
be tackled by each and every one of
us. From the desperately needed labor
law reforms found in the Protecting the
Right to Organize Act, to ensuring our
roads, bridges and the care economy
are funded through both infrastruc-
ture packages, to finally making sure
democracy is both upheld and exe-
cuted through voting rights and filibus-
ter reform — these are all pieces to the
puzzle of building a stronger Oregon
and country.
Oregon workers are lucky to have a
number of champions in our congres-
sional delegation and we are closely
watching those members who may not
support each of these critical policies.
Because these are the kinds of bold
changes workers expect, especially this
Labor Day.
Graham Trainor is president of the
Oregon AFL-CIO, the statewide federa-
tion of labor unions. This guest column
was originally published in the port-
land Tribune.
THE bOLd CHANGES NEEdEd FOR OuR COmmuNITIES, STATE ANd COuNTRy muST bE TACKLEd by
EACH ANd EVERy ONE OF uS. FROm THE dESpERATELy NEEdEd LAbOR LAW REFORmS FOuNd IN
THE pROTECTING THE RIGHT TO ORGANIZE ACT, TO ENSuRING OuR ROAdS, bRIdGES ANd THE CARE
ECONOmy ARE FuNdEd THROuGH bOTH INFRASTRuCTuRE pACKAGES, TO FINALLy mAKING SuRE
dEmOCRACy IS bOTH upHELd ANd EXECuTEd THROuGH VOTING RIGHTS ANd FILIbuSTER REFORm
— THESE ARE ALL pIECES TO THE puZZLE OF buILdING A STRONGER OREGON ANd COuNTRy.
GUEST COLUMN
The injustice of forced union dues
A
merica’s working men and women
have faced unprecedented chal-
lenges over the course of the pan-
demic, and on Labor Day, we shouldn’t
only be remembering their dedication but
redoubling our efforts to
protect their individual
rights in the workplace.
That means there
is work to do in Ore-
gon, because it is one of
the 23 states lacking a
“right-to-work” law. In
MARK
your state, union officials
MIX
are granted the power to
legally threaten a worker
to pay up or else be fired. By imposing a
monopoly bargaining contract, all employ-
ees in a unionized workplace, even those
who reject union membership, can be
forced to pay union fees as a condition of
employment.
While the landmark 2018 U.S.
Supreme Court Janus v. AFSCME deci-
sion now protects all public sector work-
ers from compelled union payments, pri-
vate sector workers in Oregon and other
forced-unionism states can still be required
to fund union officials’ activities, even if
they bitterly oppose the union’s so-called
“representation.”
The vast majority of Americans rec-
ognize that this is just plain wrong. From
year to year polls consistently show that
many Americans reject the idea that some-
one should be forced to bankroll unwanted
A WEALTH OF dATA SuppORTS THE IdEA THAT
RIGHT-TO-WORK WORKS FOR bOTH EmpLOyEES ANd
buSINESSES, buT THE pROTECTIONS EXIST FIRST
ANd FOREmOST TO SAFEGuARd EACH INdIVIduAL
WORKER’S RIGHT TO dECIdE FREELy WHETHER
uNION OFFICIALS dESERVE FINANCIAL SuppORT.
union boss activities just to keep his or her
job.
In addition to falling short in protecting
workers’ rights, forced-unionism states fell
painfully behind their right-to-work coun-
terparts in recovering from the economic
disruption of COVID-19.
According to U.S. Department of Labor
stats from July, from April 2020 to last
April, right-to-work states posted a recov-
ery in manufacturing payroll jobs roughly
60% stronger by percentage than the one
forced-unionism states had during the
same time period.
Sluggish job growth in forced-unionism
states was not limited to just the pandemic
recovery. A National Institute for Labor
Relations Research analysis points out that,
from 2020 back to 2010, employment in
states lacking right-to-work protections
increased by only 2.4%, paling in compar-
ison to right-to-work states’ 11% jump in
the same decade.
It’s no surprise, then, that right-to-
work states passed the milestone just last
year of now playing host to the major-
ity of employed people in the United
States, according to the Department of
Labor’s household survey. And people
don’t just flock to right-to-work states for
the jobs: The NILRR analysis points out
that, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics
data, the mean after-tax household income
in right-to-work states is about $4,300
higher than the average for households in
forced-unionism states, after adjusting for
cost of living.
Business experts also regularly point
out that right-to-work plays a major role
when a company is deciding where to
expand an existing plant or facility or
where to create a new one. In the manu-
facturing sector alone, the NILRR analysis
notes, payroll employment in right-to-work
states grew by 9.1% while falling by 0.2%
in forced-unionism states, during 2010 to
2020.
A wealth of data supports the idea that
right-to-work works for both employees
and businesses, but the protections exist
Associated Press
Oregon is among 23 states that do not have
so-called ‘right-to-work’ laws.
first and foremost to safeguard each indi-
vidual worker’s right to decide freely
whether union officials deserve financial
support.
And of course, right-to-work does
nothing to stop workers from affiliat-
ing with a union if they choose to volun-
tarily. In fact, right-to-work presses union
bosses to become more accountable, as
they know that they can’t depend on gov-
ernment-granted power to keep employee
money rolling into their coffers, and that
they must instead earn that support by
being responsive to their needs.
The working men and women of Ore-
gon and America as a whole deserve this
kind of protection. So this Labor Day, con-
sider the benefits of right-to-work and
demand your elected officials embrace
worker freedom and economic opportunity.
mark mix is president of the National
Right to Work Committee and National
Right to Work Legal defense Foundation.