News

After OHSU fails to offer adequate minimum wage, Postdoctoral Researchers Authorize a Strike

PORTLAND, OR - Roughly 250 postdoctoral researchers represented by Oregon AFSCME at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) voted yesterday to authorize a strike if OHS

OHSU Researchers Saved My Life

As some of you know, last year I was diagnosed with stage four lymphoma. I was very scared and was not sure what would happen.

How we are fighting for better pay, better wages, better workplaces.

Oregon AFSCME members aren’t afraid to make their voices heard. Last month, AFSCME members like you from across the state, stood up and spoke out for themselves and each other. 

In No Uncertain Terms

EMS Week is a time to recognize the sacrifices that EMS professionals make for their communities and to honor these skilled heroes who rush into danger when we need them most. AFSCME EMS professionals play an essential role in the emergency response system, but their stories—and the wounds they suffer on the job—are often overlooked.

AFSCME Celebrates Law Enforcement Week

Members of AFSCME’s law enforcement community take countless risks to keep our communities safe. When those brave heroes make the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty, our obligation is to never forget them.

National Police Week is a time to honor fallen law enforcement officers, as well as a time for the law enforcement community to stand in solidarity with each other.

Protecting Nurses During National Nurses Week

During National Nurses Week, we celebrate the heroes who, with skill and compassion, care for the sick. This year, we’re honoring their hard work and dedication by supporting the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act, a bill that seeks to raise the bar on safety standards and protect nurses from preventable incidents of violence at work.

Injured on the Job, Corrections Officer Links Safety with Collective Bargaining Rights

Safety Through Collective Bargaining Rights: Kelvin's Story

The day after he was released from a hospital, a bruised and swollen Kelvin Chung told a state Senate committee that state employees like him need collective bargaining rights to advocate for safety on the job. “I want you to see my face. We need a voice on the job, so this doesn't happen again to anyone else,” said Chung, a corrections officer.

Introducing the AFSCME SMART Center

Oregon AFSCME is excited to announce a new way AFSCME represented members and leaders can connect with and engage in our Union.  As more and more members get active in their local union, we want to add a new and efficient way for members to easily get questions answered and concerns responded to; while also providing additional support to member leaders.  For this reason, we are bringing a new resource to our Council, the AFSCME Council 75 SMART CENTER which stands for Steward, Member, Assistance, Representation, and Training Center.

We Can Do More for Worker Safety

Workers Memorial Day is this Sunday, April 28, when we honor workers killed or injured on the job. On this day in 1971, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was formed.

For almost half a century, OSHA has been charged with helping to ensure safe and healthy working conditions for men and women across this country. But under the Trump administration, OSHA is failing us. As we observe Workers Memorial Day, it’s clear that we can do more – much more – for worker safety.

AFSCME Celebrates National Library Workers Day

All-knowing sources of information. Tour guides to the highways and byways of history. The friendly voice of a morning story time. If that’s all you think of when you think of your library staff, you’d do well to meet some of AFSCME’s library workers, whose reach goes far beyond their libraries’ walls.

Today is National Library Workers Day, when we honor those professionals who keep our libraries running: librarians, technicians and other staff, including custodians, security and maintenance workers.

We Carry on Dr. King’s Fight

MLK Memorial 2019 I AM | Be The Change | AFSCME Video

Fifty-one years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. traveled to Memphis to help rally the community around 1,300 AFSCME sanitation workers who had gone on strike.