More than a decade ago public workers in Oregon lost their rights to let their union representatives bring safety issues to the collective bargaining table. That could be about to change. Jesse Russell reports:

In 1995 a Republican controlled legislature took away the rights of workers to have their workplace safety concerns included during contract negotiations. Supporters of a new bill that just passed through an Oregon State Senate Commerce Committee would restore those rights, but it faces opposition. Republicans who oppose the bill argue that it comes at a time when government spending is being slashed, especially for counties with large acres of forest – such as much of Oregon. That means safety funding is shifted onto the backs of small communities. Supporters argue that police officers, firefighters, corrections officers and more go to work everyday without a way to voice or argue for the equipment they may need to be safe on the job.

Four years ago the state of Oregon set its minimum wage to increase each year along with the cost-of-living. Jesse Russell takes a look at the impact:

As the new year dawned Oregon’s minimum wage workers saw a .30 cent increase in their paychecks. In 2002 Oregonians approved a ballot measure that required the state’s minimum wage to keep pace with inflation - that automatically bumped it up to $7.80 this year. A report released this week by the Oregon Center for Public Policy suggests that opponents of the measure, who claimed nearly 30,000 jobs would be lost if the wage increase passed, have been proven wrong. The report finds that Oregon’s job growth is 11th fastest in the nation with restaurant jobs increasing by 13.5 percent. The Oregon Restaurant Association has been one of the loudest critics of the measure. The state has also bucked a national trend where agriculture jobs have dropped by 15 percent nationally over the past four years. Oregon has seen an increase of one percent. Report author Michael Leachman:

By Jesse Russell

Nurses at Oregon's Mercy Medical Center are at odds with the hospital over contract negotiations. The nurses voted to unionize in January and if a contract cannot be reached b the end of the year the union will be decertified. On Monday they appealed to Congressman Peter DeFazio for help. The Oregon congressman is a supporter of the Employee Free Choice Act which would help strengthen the rights of workers to organize. Tom Chamberlain is President of the Oregon AFL-CIO. He spoke of how the Mercy nurses symbolize what is happening across the United States:

[Chamberlain1]: "The nurses are a good symbol of what's going on in this country. It's very difficult to form a union. In the state of Oregon, roughly 30 percent of the workforce in the 1970s were represented by unions to 16 and a half percent today."

By Doug Cunningham

It’s official. Oregon has a brand new Working Families Party. Barbara Dudley is a Working Families Party organizer.

[Barbara Dudley]: “We’re gonna be focusing on family wage jobs, on getting living wages paid for all kinds of work in this country, for things like universal and affordable health care, for adequate funding for public education. We want to get public education all through higher education accessible to working class kids again.”

Dudley says the party will be active in the November elections and will hold a founding convention this summer.

By Doug Cunningham

Oregon is well on its way to getting a Working Families Party. More than 20,000 petition signatures to form the new political party were recently turned in to the state’s Elections Division. Labor leaders and community activists have organized the effort to create Oregon’s Working Families Party. The party could be on the ballot in November. Tom Chamberlain, President of the Oregon AFL-CIO, says the goal of the new party will be to consolidate labor votes behind candidates who best represent the interests of working families.

A group of organizations have mobilized throughout Oregon for a Walk of Truth, Justice and Community. The marchers led by groups like Oregon Action, the Farmworker Union and the Rural Organizing Project are seeking to educate people about and end attacks on immigrants and farmworkers. The march began Sunday in the state capital of Salem and ends this weekend in Portland. Erica Steinbaur of the Farm Workers Union explains what she hopes the march will achieve:

[Steinbaur]: We really are trying to move forward on a progressive agenda for justice in Oregon. In the state capital there are currently a number of anti-immigrant/anti-worker bills so galvanizing support from rural Oregonians is critical to defeating those as well.