Portland Jobs with Justice

Led by the work of health care advocates and their strong testimony about the painful gaps of a patchwork system, Multnomah County passed a resolution in support of universal, publicly-funded health care! JWJ’s Executive Director, Jill Pham, shared testimony about JWJ’s experience supporting contract fights: “Across industries, across all socio-economic statuses, health care costs are always a topic at every bargaining table. Our health and welfare being subjected to the crumbs left behind in a corporate budget. Even if you have access to an employer health care plan, the premiums, deductibles, and co-pays may make that impossible to access… No worker, no one at all, should have to toil for hours in undignified conditions just to be subjected to subpar health care.”

JWJ’s Health Care Committee organized turnout of supporters – clad in red – and was present for the vote. Thank you to all those who showed up to testify, and thank you to the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners for recognizing the importance of universal single-payer healthcare, and pushing the Oregon Legislature and Governor to make it happen!

“𝘛𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘰𝘯 𝘓𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭 – 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭.”

You can view the full text of the resolution here.

I’m sure you’ve heard by now – on Monday night, the rigged, right wing SCOTUS opinion re: Roe v. Wade leaked– and it’s unconscionable. After 49 years of right wing plotting to control our bodies and strip away fundamental human rights, SCOTUS intends to overturn Roe v. Wade and allow states to restrict abortion access. Conservative states have started with “blanket bans” on abortion and it won’t end there. This broad ruling can also be applied to contraceptives, gender-affirming care, marriage, and other fundamental civil rights too.

We condemn this attack. It won’t be wealthy people who become pregnant that struggle to attain safe abortion care, but the poorest people, communities of color, and survivors of rape and incest. Members of the working class will be forced to seek unsafe and ever more costly measures to get critical care.

Abortion care is health care, and health care is a human right!

Let’s be clear – Abortion is your right – and it’s still legal. We are showing up before the right-wing justices on the Supreme Court finalize a decision. We are showing up to demand elected officials—in Congress and in state houses—take every measure to enshrine the right to reproductive healthcare for all.

Upon receipt of this news, hundreds of you flooded the streets last night. Lets continue to bring our rage, our hearts, our determination, to demand immediate action to protect abortion providers and people seeking abortions! On the same day as the leak, JWJ joined the Planned Parenthood-led Coalition to mobilize the fight back! Can we count on you to join JWJ mobilizing a rapid response? Sign up here!

Portland JWJ’s Summer Solidarity Celebration is back!

Less than a month away… we hope you will join us in celebrating community-labor solidarity!

We’ll have raffle prizes, light hors’ d’oeuvres, a cash bar, and live music!

*We do require guests to be fully vaccinated and to wear a mask when not consuming.

Thursday, May 26, 6 – 8pm
The Village Ballroom, 21+
704 NE Dekum St. Portland

To purchase tickets or to partner as a sponsor, Click Here!
Invite your friends and help us spread the word by sharing our Facebook event page here!

For ASL or Spanish interpretation, or for any other questions, please contact Operations Organizer Amanda Sager, amanda@jwjpdx.org.

International Workers Day, commonly known as May Day, is a day of worker solidarity and protest. May Day is celebrated around the world, with workers taking to the streets with demands and uplifting working-class struggles. JWJ proudly co-sponsors a migrant-centered May Day, led by International Migrants Alliance (IMA) and a coalition of migrant and worker-led orgs

-11:00 am: Gather at the Battleship Memorial at Tom McCall Park

-12:00 pm: March (route is one-way and approximately 2 miles)

-2:00pm: Rally at PSU Park Blocks

Share the Facebook event page here!
Note: Please wear your masks and stay COVID-19 safe.

Join the May Day Coalition for a Variety of Worker and Migrant Centered Educational, Artistic, and Political events in the Lead-up to May Day! Check out the events here!

In case you missed our previous posts, registration is live for Pacific Northwest Labor History Association (PNLHA) 2022 Labor History Conference: Using Labor’s Past to Mobilize for Labor’s Future.

PNLHA’s 2022 Labor History Conferencewill feature examples, strategies, and opportunities to workshop ideas for using labor history to inspire, organize and mobilize today’s workers. Conference workshops include Race and Labor: Pursuing Racial Justice and Building Anti-Racist Unions. Attendees will also be able to tour the exhibit at the Oregon Historical Society: Building Solidarity for 30 Years, Portland Jobs with Justice.

Don’t miss the Public Plenary Panel! Free and open to the public, the community is invited to attend the plenary discussion which will explore the history of JwJ’s origins and development as an activist organization.

Whether you are able to join for the full-day conference, or simply the public panel, join us to reflect on the past, present, and future of JWJ’s labor-community connections. The panel discussion will feature Margaret Butler, Alice Dale, Veronica Dujon, Rev. Cecil Prescod, and Meredith Schafer, and will be moderated by Bob Bussel. Read more about it here!

Full Conference: Saturday, April 23rd from8 – 5:30pm; Registration: $30
Morning: First Congregational Church
Afternoon: Oregon Historical Society
Register for the Conference here. Limited fee waivers available on request.
Panel, 2-3:30,free and open to the public, at the Oregon Historical Society

More information online or email the PNLHA here.