ASHLAND, Ore. — About 14 percent of wage and salary workers in Oregon were part of a union last year. That’s according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Today, out by Emigrant Lake, around 150 people were celebrating American workers and especially, the organizations that represent them.
There was live music, speeches, and lots of food.
Many unions showed up like Unite Oregon and the United Food and Commercial Workers. One union member told me celebrating this year is especially important after the Supreme Court reversed a law in Oregon called “fair share” in June.
The law made working people pay for representation in a union even if you didn’t want to be a part of the union.
“It’s been hard but we’ve worked through it…,” said Rodney McCambridge, Council Representative for Oregon AFSCME. “People who have toiled, who have worked their whole lives…We are labor. We are what makes america run and function.”
McCambridge says the decision was a blow to labor unions across the country, but they’re not going to stop making their voices heard; He says that’s exactly what they’re out doing today.
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