SALEM — A crowd of demonstrators rallied in front of the state capitol Saturday morning, advocating for workers’ rights and showing support for labor unions across the country.
Inspired by the ongoing dispute in Wisconsin over public employees’ collective bargaining rights, hundreds of teachers, nurses, electricians and students assembled at the steps of the Oregon State Capitol to show their support. Earlier this month, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker proposed serious restrictions on rights that allow workers to unionize and negotiate the terms of their employment. Walker’s proposed changes would make it easier for the state to cut jobs and salaries to deal with budget deficits.
Demonstrators argued that these restrictions are not only harmful to American workers and the economy, but that they will in fact deepen the deficit by reducing middle-class income.
“The middle class is under attack in this country, and until we provide good jobs that provide good wages, we are going to continue in a downward spiral,” Oregon Rep. Brad Witt (D-Clatskanie) said at the event.
“That’s not just in our living standards, but also in the ability of the state government to raise adequate tax revenue.”
Saturday’s demonstration represented just one of the protests that have recently broken out at every state capitol across the country. Orchestrated by MoveOn.org and a coalition of grassroots organizations, the “Wisconsin Solidarity” rallies attracted large numbers of union members and their supporters. In Salem, the crowd swelled to approximately 1,200 protesters by noon, chanting slogans and wielding handcrafted signs.
Among the crowd were a number of University organization members, most notably the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation, a labor union representing the University’s 1,300 teaching and research assistants. Also present at the rally was ASUO Sen. Zachary Stark-MacMillan, who spoke passionately to the crowd about the need for collective action, both through unions and support movements like the rally.
“Last weekend, I was overwhelmed with helplessness and anger about the news in Wisconsin,” Stark-MacMillan said. “I think that for years, (my generation) has been disappointed by our leaders, and we’ve almost come to expect that they’re going to let us down. But this is our time to come back and make our own movement, instead of waiting for one.”
And Wisconsin is not the only front for labor disputes. A number of states, including Ohio and Indiana, are currently considering bills remarkably similar to the one proposed by Walker, and states are struggling to deal with their own budget deficit all across the country.
In Oregon, drastic cuts have been made in many public services. Although Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber has made no attempt to restrict collective bargaining, labor negotiations will nevertheless be a tense legislative issue in the upcoming months.
“It’s going to be a battle,” said Neil Bednarczyk, a negotiator for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). “Kitzhaber hasn’t put any limits on what we can attempt to bargain over, but we know that there is a $3.5 billion shortfall in the general fund, and we know that there are sacrifices that state employees are going to have to shoulder.”
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