SEIU held a rally on June 5 at the Oregon State Capitol to demand lawmakers pass a state budget that benefits Oregon workers. Credit: Photo by Aurora Biggers
Oregon saw a continued blitz of health care organizing in June, plus actions involving immigration, health care and the state legislature.
"Last month in Oregon labor" is a monthly installment by Aurora Biggers covering all things Oregon labor.
Health care workers in Lebanon, Hillsboro, Bend and Portland led representation and election filings for June, with an overwhelming 11 out of 13 filings at medical centers throughout Oregon.
Organizing aside, June was a significant month for Oregon labor. State lawmakers concluded the 2025 legislative session with a streak of historic pro-labor bills. From unemployment for striking workers to historic funding for the state’s labor bureau, lawmakers made headway towards a more equitable Oregon.
Labor legislature wrap-up
This year’s legislative session ended June 27, leaving a wake of wins and losses for workers across the state.
In a major and unprecedented win, the state labor federation, the Oregon AFL-CIO, alongside unions across sectors, secured passage of a bill that will allow workers on strike to access unemployment insurance after two weeks, with a 10-week cap. Starting Jan. 1, 2026, Oregon will be the first state in the U.S. to allow both public and private sector workers to collect unemployment while on strike. Three other states offer unemployment to striking workers in the private sector, but Oregon is the only state to offer the benefit to public employees who are on strike.
Labor lobbyists, led by the Sheet Metal Local 16, helped pass a law meant to ensure Oregon’s prevailing wage laws keep up with evolving technology and off-site fabrication trends by extending prevailing wages to off-site fabrication on public works projects.
Lawmakers also passed a historic level of funding for the Bureau of Labor and Industries, which protects workers’ rights by enforcing state labor laws. The budget bill will fund 70 new positions within the bureau, including added wage and civil-rights investigators.
Oregon also passed bills that add penalties for public employers that repeatedly break labor laws and make it illegal for employers to ask for birth dates and graduation dates on job applications.
The session also saw losses for labor rights advocates. Notably, Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste, Oregon’s farm worker union, supported a bill that would create a workforce standards board that legislators turned into a study, and a bill that would have created SEIU’s home and community-based services workforce standards board died in the House of Representatives.
Lawmakers also failed to pass a transportation budget. Despite a supermajority in both chambers, Democrats didn’t unify to pass that key legislation. As a result, the state will likely have to cut hundreds of jobs in the Oregon Department of Transportation, as well as transportation job cuts in cities and counties across the state. Gov. Tina Kotek may call for a special session to address the gap in funding.
New campaigns and elections
Registered nurse case managers at Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital voted unanimously to join the Oregon Nurses Association, or ONA, on June 2.
On June 4, American Rock Products drivers in Hermiston filed with the National Labor Relations Board, or the NLRB, to join the Teamsters Local 670.
Two units of non-professional employees at Tuality Healthcare Hillsboro Medical Center filed June 6 to join the Oregon American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 75, or AFSCME.
On June 6, transfer center registered nurses and patient logistics registered nurses at St. Charles Medical Center in Bend filed to join ONA.
Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center professional employees in Portland voted 122-14 June 10 to join Oregon AFSCME Council 75.
Workers at Canyon Pipeline Construction in Central Point Union filed June 11 to join the United Association of Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 290.
And on June 13, nurse practitioners, physicians associates and physician assistants at Legacy clinics in Oregon and Washington filed to join ONA.
June was a big month for Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland. On June 17, Echocardiology registered nurses at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center filed to join ONA. Three days later, wound ostomy registered nurses at the medical center also filed to join the nurses association. On June 25, the center’s service and maintenance employees voted 759-171 to join the Service Employees International Union Local 49.
Continuing the streak, nurse practitioners, physicians associates and physician assistants at Legacy Randall Children’s Hospital and Emanuel Medical Center filed June 25 to join ONA.
On June 27, physicians at Legacy clinics in Oregon and Washington filed to join Northwest Medicine United.
Labor actions
On June 5, the Service Employees International Union Local 503, or SEIU, held a rally at the Oregon State Capitol to demand lawmakers pass a state budget that “reflects Oregon’s values, protects essential services and invests in Oregon workers,” the union said.
The rally primarily focused on funding for state services, childcare, education and health care.
Federal agents assaulted and detained David Huerta, president of SEIU-United Services Workers West, while was observing a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid in Los Angeles. On June 9, the union held nationwide rallies to demand his release and an end to the raids. In Portland, SEIU Local 503 held a rally at the Oregon Convention Center to advocate for Huerta.
ONA nurses, professional employees and technicians at Legacy Unity Center for Behavioral Health held a rally on June 17 after a year of bargaining. The union says Unity Center workers are asking for improvements to education funds, wages and differentials, health and safety and staffing.
On June 27, Oregon AFSCME and ONA held a joint rally at Oregon Health & Science University. The two unions said the university was failing to offer living wages in contract negotiations.
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