Oregon Unions Urge Lawmakers to Protect Oregon Workers Instead of Cutting Back

SALEM, ORE. - Oregon AFL-CIO President Graham Trainor issued the following statement in response to proposed budget cuts to Oregon’s state agencies: 

Oregon workers are already suffering the consequences of President Trump’s disastrous economic policies, paying more to put food on the table, heat their homes, get medical care when they’re sick, and more. But now we are being forced to pay for Trump’s lavish giveaways to his ultra-wealthy donors through cuts to critical services. That impacts the people who provide those services, as well as the Oregonians who rely on them. 

The potential cuts to higher education, behavioral health, in-home and child care, human services, and investments in our state’s critical infrastructure are unacceptable.  The workers who perform these essential functions of our government and the people who depend on them deserve better. 

Before cutting the essential services Oregon families rely on, our legislators must use every available tool at their disposal to keep Oregon families healthy, fed, safe, and working.  Oregon’s unions are calling on lawmakers to rise to the occasion and work to protect Oregon families, not rubber-stamp Trump’s lavish giveaways to the wealthy.