By Doug Cunningham

The Oregon AFL-CIO is among the supporters helping to organize The Working Families party in Oregon. Barbara Dudley is an organizer of the political party being formed to support a working families agenda in Oregon.

[Barbara Dudley] : "It's not just about unions. It's issues relevant to all working families. The gap between rich and poor, as well all know, is growing, growing, growing. Working people often have to work more than one job to support their family. Pensions are disappearing, health care. So they need a party that's going to speak to those. And the Democratic Party has not been very good about focusing on those."

Efforts to organize Working Family Parties are also underway in Washington state, Ohio, Missouri, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and South Carolina. A Working Families party already exists in New York.

[Dudley 2] : "The Democrats have basically walked away from economic issues. Basically you have a Democratic Party that is no longer the party of Franklin Roosevelt or even Lyndon Johnson--the War on Poverty or the New Deal--and certainly not the party of labor. The labor laws and labor unions and support for workers rights to organize have been eroding dramatically under both Democratic and Republican administrations."