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!
“๐๐ฐ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ๐ญ๐บ ๐ถ๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ช๐ด๐ญ๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ด๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฏ ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐ญ๐บ ๐ง๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ท๐ฆ, ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ข๐ญ ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ข๐บ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐บ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ โ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ณ๐ช๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ง๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ.”
You can view the full text of the resolution here.
Iโm sure you’ve heard by now โ on Monday night, the rigged, right wing SCOTUS opinion re: Roe v. Wade leakedโ and itโs 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 wonโt 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!
Letโs be clear – Abortion is your right – and itโs 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 officialsโin Congress and in state housesโtake 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 JWJโs Summer Solidarity Celebration is back!
Less than a month awayโฆ we hope you will join us in celebrating community-labor solidarity!
Weโll have raffle prizes, light horsโ 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!
Here is a shot of the many participants of JWJ’s Portland Rising’s robust bi-weekly reading group on Ministry for the Future! Kim Stanley Robinson’s novel has served as a platform for organizing strategies and collaboration. To get involved with Portland Rising’s programs – discussions, panels, film screenings and other educational events – send a message to portlandrisingprograms@gmail.com!
Check out Portland Rising’s committee page here!
The novel courses through the next century and the diversity of tactics needed to combat climate change. The book dares us to imagine ourselves as a collective, standing in the judgment of a future that wants a livable environment more than a clean fight. Our task, as readers, is to decide what must be done – in response!
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.
PNLHAโs 2022 Labor History Conferencewill feature examples, strategies, and opportunities to workshop ideas for using labor history to inspire, organize and mobilize todayโs 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.
Donโt 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 JwJโs 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.