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Oregon AFL-CIO

Path to Power


One of the many exciting outcomes from the Oregon AFL-CIO’s 2019 Convention is the in-state launch of the National AFL-CIO’s Path to Power program. Path to Power is a union member and elected official training program pioneered by the New Jersey State Federation and its affiliates. With long-term, deliberate effort New Jersey has elected over 1,000 union members to public office and now the program is being recreated in states across the country, leading to more pro-worker policies nationwide. For background on the National AFL-CIO's Path to Power model and its impressive impacts across the country, please check out this website.

The need to elect more union members is clear. For decades, the political system has failed working people. The labor movement’s independent political power is necessary to ensure justice for working people and their families, and for balancing the power of corporations and wealthy elites. We find the seeds of that political power at the local level, among union activists engaging their co-workers and neighbors on relevant issues, and with union members who run for public office to represent workers’ interests. It is a priority of the Oregon AFL-CIO to work with Oregon’s unions to cultivate these members and these opportunities.

The Oregon AFL-CIO is a founding member of the Oregon Labor Candidate School (OLCS) and we will be furthering our partnership by taking candidate training statewide, building upon the success OLCS has achieved in the Portland area. Together with OLCS and the National AFL-CIO we can prepare, elect, and engage unprecedented levels of union members to Oregon’s public offices.

For more information on the Oregon AFL-CIO Path to Power program contact Chelsea Watson at chelsea@oraflcio.org.

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