Fair Shot for All Supports A Better Oregon

Long-standing inequalities between the wealthy and working families are standing in the way of real opportunities for many Oregonians, especially women, people of color and those in LGBTQ communities.

It's imperative that we change that system and find solutions that will make a real difference in Oregonian's lives.

Fair Shot For All supports A Better Oregon's proposal to invest in the services that will improve the lives of all Oregonians, from the youngest and most vulnerable, to our aging relatives and neighbors.

Help us build A Better Oregon. Pledge to vote Yes on 97 in November!

Treated unfairly by Police? File a profiling complaint

Profiling by Law Enforcement 

In Oregon it is illegal for a law enforcement agency or officer to target an individual based solely on their age, race, ethnicity, color, national origin, language, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, political affiliation, religious affiliation, houselessness, mental disability, or physical disability. 

What Can You Do?

File a Profiling Complaint. Now we have a tool to address this problem. Filing profiling complaints will help us curb this dangerous practice and make our families safer and our communities stronger.  

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We’re Here to Help

We know that individuals and communities across Oregon are targeted by law enforcement every day. Unite Oregon and a coalition is leading the effort to end profiling by law enforcement and we know that profiling won’t end until we file complaints that will help us identify patterns and practices of profiling and begin to hold law enforcement accountable. It’s a quick and easy process and we can walk you through it. 

For help filing a complaint or to get involved in this campaign contact Unite Oregon at www.uniteoregon.org (503)287-4117. 

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This material is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. Should you wish to seek an attorney to obtain advice with respect to particular issues or problems, contact the Oregon State Bar at (503)684-3763.

Meet Our Coalition Partner: Oregon NOW

The National Organization for Women (NOW) is the largest organization of feminist activists in the United States, with hundreds of thousands of contributing members and more than 500 local and campus affiliates in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Since its founding in 1966, NOW’s goal has been “to take action” to bring about equality for all women. NOW’s priorities include championing abortion rights, reproductive freedom, and other women’s health issues; opposing racism; fighting bigotry against the LGBTQIA community; ending violence against women; winning economic equality; and amending the U.S. Constitution to guarantee equal rights for women.

Oregon NOW is a state chapter of NOW. We work on behalf of nearly 1,500 NOW members in Oregon to achieve equality for all women and girls and to amplify the work of other justice-seeking organizations around Oregon. Our work includes encouraging our members and supporters to take action on our priorities, engaging in legislative advocacy, raising consciousness about our issues and priorities, endorsing candidates who will be strong advocates, and connecting members to feminist happenings, actions, and events in Oregon.

We are proud to be part of the Fair Shot Coalition, and have been strong supporters of efforts to pass laws first at the local level and then at the state level to require paid sick days, recent legislation to increase the minimum wage, and the successful effort to “Ban the Box” in Portland to improve employment prospects for people with felony convictions. Next year, Oregon NOW is focused on helping Oregon become the fifth state in the nation that requires paid family and medical leave.

Executive Director Michelle Ganow-Jones supporting paid sick days at an Oregon NOW annual meeting. 

Meet Our Coalition Partner: Urban League of Portland

Founded in 1910, the National Urban League is a historic civil rights organization dedicated to economic empowerment in order to elevate the standard of living in historically under-served urban communities.  Our mission is to empower African Americans and other Oregonians to achieve equality in education, employment, and economic security. 

The Urban League movement carries out its mission at the local, state and national levels through direct services, advocacy, research, policy analysis, community education and mobilization, coalitions and collaborations, and communications. As an early advocate for fair housing and employment, the Urban League was instrumental in helping to shape the city of Portland we know today. 

We're proud of our work with the Fair Shot for All Coalition. After passing a law to Ban the Box in the legislature and 18 months of campaign work we co-led with the Oregon AFL-CIO, Portland City Council voted unanimously on November 25th, 2015 to pass a ban the box ordinance stronger than the statewide legislation. While we were thankful to see the state law on the books, it simply removes the box from a job application. The Portland ordinance provides an effective solution to strengthening our workforce and reducing our incarcerated population by requiring employers to extend a conditional offer before seeking information on an applicant’s criminal history.

Urban League members supporting Ban the Box at the Oregon State Capitol. 

Minimum Wage Increase: What You Need to Know

Oregon's minimum wage will increase in three geographic regions over the next six years  starting on July 1, 2016. Here's what you need to know. 

• Region 3: Includes Multnomah county and parts of Washington and Clackamas counties.
• Region 2: Includes Benton, Clatsop, Columbia, Deschutes, Hood River, Jackson, Josephine, Lane, Lincoln, Linn, Marion, Polk, Tillamook, Wasco, and Yamhill counties. 
• Region 1: Includes Baker, Coos, Crook, Curry, Douglas, Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Jefferson, Klamath, Lake, Malheur, Morrow, Sherman, Umatilla, Union, Wallowa, and Wheeler counties.

Region 3: Portland Urban Growth Boundary

The Portland Urban Growth Boundary line encompasses roughly 2.2 million people By comparison, Seattle's population--where the minimum wage is increasing in steps to $15--is less than one-third the size, at 650,000 people. 

Approximately 37% of the total estimated jobs that will see a raise by 2022 are located in the Portland UGB. By 2017, minimum wage workers in the Portland Metro area will earn $11.25 an hour, or $23,400 a year. That's just under 200% of the current Federal Poverty Level for a single person. 

67% of the jobs in the tri-county area that will see a raise this July are at businesses with 50 or more employees.  

Region 2: Non-Portland Urban

Approximately 53% of the total estimated jobs that will see a raise by 2022 are located in Region 2. By 2017, minimum wage workers in non-Portland urban counties will earn $10.25 an hour, or $21,320 for a single year. That's 180% of the current Federal Poverty Level for a single person. 

Region 1: Rural

Approximately 10% of the total estimated jobs that will see a raise by 2022 are located in Region 1. By 2017, minimum wage workers in rural Oregon will earn $10.00 an hour, or $20,800 a year. That's 177% of the current Federal Poverty Level for a single person. 

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For more information about your rights under this new law call the Bureau of Labor and Industries Wage & Hour Division at (971)673-0761. 

2016 Legislative Session Ends

The 2016 legislative session may have been short but together we made great strides for hardworking Oregonians. Hundreds of you turned out for hours of hearings and shared your stories of why raising the minimum wage, ending profiling, and stopping wage theft are essential to having a fair shot. 

As legislators head home, here’s the rundown of what your support helped make possible. 

Raised the Minimum Wage
Last week Governor Brown signed SB 1532 and made the minimum wage increase official. As a result over 100,000 minimum-wage workers will receive a raise this July and when the raise is fully phased in, it will positively impact the lives of over 600,000 Oregonians. This law sets the standard that whether you work in a field or a factory, a small town or a big city, everyone deserves a wage that allows them to afford the basics. 

Ending Profiling
HB 4003, also signed by the Governor into law, directs the Attorney General and the Work Group on the Prevention of Profiling by Law Enforcement to continue meeting and to issue a report with recommendations for legislation by December 1, 2016. The work group was established by the legislature in 2015 to help build a system to identify, record, and correct profiling by Oregon law enforcement agencies. 

Stopping Wage Theft
We began the session with a bill intended to make it more difficult for companies to get away with cheating workers out of pay. However, a key provision of the bill was removed and despite the bill’s passage, the barriers for workers to reclaim their stolen wages remain. The reality is that it’s going to take more to fix what’s broken with our system and we’ll continue to work towards solutions that help workers who have been shortchanged. 

Thank you for helping us make the Fair Shot agenda a reality. Your work has helped thousands of Oregonians over the past year and our work together is just getting started. 

Sign the pledge to support fair shot solutions to make sure you hear what’s next for us.

Meet Our Coalition Partner: Voz Workers' Rights Education Project

VOZ Workers’ Rights Education Project (Voz) is a worker-led organization that empowers diverse day laborers and immigrants to improve their working conditions and protect civil rights through leadership development, organizing, education and economic opportunity. We provide disenfranchised day laborers with leadership development opportunities as well as classes aimed at providing them with the skills they need to secure long-term employment. Voz uses Popular Education methodology in our leadership development and grassroots organizing, and we have a strong history of community engagement as a worker-led organization.

We operate the Martin Luther King, Jr. Worker Center, which connects hundreds of workers each month with local employers. The Center is critical to the day labor movement in Oregon and nationally. It offers a safe space for workers to build community, participate in trainings that increase employability, and organize themselves towards ending exploitation, discrimination and wage theft. Since 2000, Voz has been able to reclaim over $530,000 in stolen wages, created 25,127 jobs, and set a $12 minimum wage for worker at the center.

The important role that Voz plays in helping workers reclaim stolen wages demonstrates how wage theft has become a massive problem for Oregon workers and the state’s economy. We are proud to be members of the Fair Shot for All Coalition and the Oregon Coalition to Stop Wage Theft to put an end to workers being shortchanged. 

Romeo Sosa of Voz at the Fair Shot 2016 Agenda Launch. 

Meet Our Coalition Partner: Impact NW & YWCA of Greater Portland

Impact NW and YWCA of Greater Portland are proud members of the Fair Shot for All Coalition. These two organizations have a shared management agreement and support each other in fulfilling their complimentary missions. 

Impact NW’s mission is to help people prosper through a community of support. Impact NW provides an array of antipoverty programs, serving people across the lifespan with programs for all ages from infants to seniors. 

The YWCA’s mission is to eliminate racism and empower women. The YWCA has programs serving survivors of domestic violence, senior citizens, incarcerated mothers, and specifically addressing social justice. 

The Social Justice Program compliments the array of direct services with a multi-pronged approach that includes legislative advocacy (supporting gender, racial, and economic justice initiatives), community engagement, and community education (facilitating public and private trainings on social justice issues). We are honored to work with other members of the Fair Shot Coalition to eliminate racism and poverty, and empower women.

Impact NW and YWCA intern Alex at the Fair Shot for All 2016 Agenda Launch. 

Meet Our Coalition Partner: Bus Project

The Bus Project does volunteer-driven democracy for our generation (young people). We are workin’ hard to build a great future and to empower great leaders—who will make it even greater.

We are thousands of Oregonians, young and young-on-the-inside, doing democracy in a hands-on way. We put feet on the streets, butts in the seats and votes in the election…eets. We work to make politics more accessible, more equitable and more innovative. We know our generation can save the world and we need your help. (Listen, we know “saving the world” sounds kinda hokey to some of you, but somebody seriously needs to do it and that somebody should be you and everyone you know. Seriously.)

We got started in 2001 by a bunch of young leaders in a bar. They didn’t like the way politics was going and they decided to turn things around. So they bought a Bus & started getting volunteers on it, to make real political change and empower a whole new generation in democracy. They took the Bus around the state, helped some great people win elections, got thousands of regular people involved and just kept going. (Yes-- it's true we have a Bus!)

And now, here we are. Welcome to the Bus. 

We are proud partners of the Fair Shot For All Coalition. We're new members this year, but we have done an amazing job this past year to help Raise the Wage campaign. We collected 1410 pledge cards for the campaign and coalition and went to the Raise the Wage lobby day in January.

We are thrilled to bring a youth agenda and lens to this important and vital coalition. Oregon is better when all hardworking Oregonians have a fair shot at their future. 

Oregonians rally to raise the wage in front of The Bus!

Meet Our Coalition Partner: PFLAG Portland Black Chapter

PFLAG Portland Black Chapter (PBC) promotes the health and well-being of Black gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) persons, their families and friends through support, education, organizing and advocacy. 

PFLAG Portland Black Chapter was founded in 2009 as the first African American chapter of PFLAG in the nation.  There is a long history of anti-LGBTQ organizing in Oregon, with state and local ballot measure fights being the most visible form of that. What is not highlighted in that history is the long history of organizing in the Black community here in support of LGBTQ equality. In the 1990s, there was a very repressive Oregon state ballot measure, Measure 9, that would have placed being LGBTQ in the same category with pedophilia and bestiality. An organization called African Americans Against Measure 9 formed to hold discussions within the Black community, in our churches, in our community centers, in our homes. Antoinette Edwards was one of the founders of African Americans Against Measure 9, and also became one of the founders of PFLAG PBC, along with Kerry Johnson. These two folks embody what is so powerful and unique about the work of PFLAG PBC. 

PFLAG Portland Black Chapter was formed to address the need to have culturally specific work in the Black community around LGBTQ equality. We address the multiple layers of discrimination that LGBTQ Black people and their families and loved ones face, and offer opportunities to transform our community. 

We are able to carry out our mission by strategically prioritizing our work through five program areas: Youth Outreach, Faith Outreach, Member Support, Portland Black Pride, and our Policy and Advocacy Program.

PFLAG Portland Black Chapter is a proud member of the Fair Shot Coalition working to bring economic justice and fairness to all Oregonians.  We know that Black LGBTQ Oregonians too often face startling disparities as was lifted up in our 2012 Lift Every Voice Report that brought visibility to the experiences of Black LGBTQ Oregonians. 

Working with the Fair Shot Coalition we have seen much success improving the lives of thousands across the state through the passage of important legislation that increases employment opportunities, provides workers with paid sick leave, ands bans profiling by law enforcement to name a few.  

We have had success in advancing social, racial, and LGBTQ justice in our state, but we know have much more to do.  We look forward to our partnership with the Fair Shot Coalition working to bring equity to Oregon.

Fair Shot For All Coalition members presenting at a PFLAG PBC Know Your Rights Training

Meet Our Coalition Partner: SEIU Local 49

SEIU Local 49 represents more than 10,000 workers in Oregon & SW Washington. We stand together for fair pay, affordable healthcare, dignity and a voice on the job. Our mission as SEIU Local 49 is to improve the quality of life for our members, their families, and dependents by achieving a higher standard of living, by elevating their social conditions and by striving to create a more just society. Fair Shot For All shares our values and together we remain focused on building an economy that gives every Oregonian an opportunity to get ahead. 

Racial Equity Report Release

In 2015 Fair Shot For All helped to push the Oregon legislature to pass huge bills advancing racial equity. Facing Race: Oregon addresses racial equity related to civil rights, criminal justice, economic justice, education, health, and immigrant and refugee issues. Read more at www.facingraceoregon.org! 

Meet Our Coalition Partner: SEIU Local 503

We are an organization of more than 55,000 women and men who, by joining together, are fighting to create a just and vibrant society where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. We believe that everyone who works should be able to provide for themselves and their families. 

That’s why we are proud leaders in the Fair Shot For All coalition. 

In the 2015 legislative session, we worked with the coalition to fight for changes that will give every Oregonian the opportunity to succeed. SEIU Local 503 members were proud to lead the way on retirement security. Nearly half of all Oregonians have no employer-sponsored retirement plan. As a result, many are at risk of living in poverty when they retire.  

We fought to address this problem by helping pass HB 2960, which created a state-managed retirement plan for people who don’t have one at work. This new opportunity to save for the future will put thousands of Oregonians back in charge of their financial future. 

In the next legislative session, we will work to raise Oregon’s minimum wage. The current minimum wage is not enough to live on. An Oregonian working full time for $9.25 an hour earns just $19,240 a year. No matter where you live, that’s not nearly enough to afford the basics like housing, food, and childcare. Underpaid Oregonians and their families need a raise—and they need it now.

SEIU Local 503 members prepare for a lobby day in Salem, Oregon.

Meet Our Coalition Partner: Rural Organizing Project

The Rural Organizing Project (ROP) is a statewide network of locally-based groups in rural and small-town Oregon that work to promote human dignity: the belief in the equal worth of all people, the need for equal access to justice and the right to self-determination. 

ROP’s most important work is to build the power of each human dignity group to organize for change in their communities. We connect leaders and groups through collective action to promote inclusive democracy, organize for racial and economic justice, and stand together for LGBTQ rights and immigrant fairness. 

We believe in 3 guiding principles:

1. Every human being matters.
2. Every issue is interconnected.
3. It’s all about transformational organizing.

Our small staff is backed by hundreds of volunteer leaders and thousands of supporters spanning the 10th largest state in the nation. As Left Turn magazine reported of our model, this structure enables and requires ROP to focus on organizing and grassroots leadership development to maintain the depth and breadth of movement building work.

ROP works with allies to bring rural voices to progressive issues and bring rural issues to progressive organizing. Our members are active in gathering signatures for the 15Now campaign to raise the minimum wage, we rallied to promote access to drivers’ cards for immigrants, we have promoted ban the box legislation through social media, and member groups across Oregon have organized Black Lives Matter vigils and demonstrations to call for an end to racial profiling and to hold local police accountable.

We are excited to be a member of the Fair Shot for All Coalition and bring rural voices to the fight for economic and social justice. 

Meet Our Coalition Partner: Partnership for Safety and Justice

Partnership of Safety and Justice (PSJ) is a statewide nonprofit organization working to reform public safety and criminal justice policy in Oregon on behalf of all people affected by crime and incarceration. We believe that public safety policy should include an appropriate level of accountability for those who commit crimes, resources to ensure that crime survivors get the services they need, and a commitment to proven strategies that prevent crime and provide opportunities for victims and people who commit crimes to rebuild their lives. PSJ is happy to be a part of the Fair Shot Coalition because we know that public safety depends on individuals being able to support themselves and their families and to make meaningful contributions to their communities.
 
Earlier this year, PSJ joined with the Fair Shot Coalition in successfully urging state lawmakers to “Ban the Box” on employment applications, which gives Oregonians with criminal records a better chance of finding work and getting back on their feet. Eliminating unnecessary barriers to employment is one of the simplest and most effective ways to ensure that people who committed crimes in the past will remain on the right side of the law. The income, health benefits, and social stability associated with employment are, in many cases, essential elements in preventing future criminal activity. Employment also makes it more likely that people will pay restitution when there are victims. Finally, given the disproportionate impact of our criminal justice system on people of color, ending the practice of denying consideration to applicants due solely to the disclosure of a past conviction is a matter of racial equity.
 
We were also excited to partner with Fair Shot to help bring an end to police profiling in Oregon. We know that profiling by law enforcement is a problem that exists across our state, particularly within communities of color and low-income neighborhoods. This practice degrades rather than enhances public safety by engendering mistrust among community members. We have seen, time and time again, how racial profiling can lead to people of color—most often black boys and young men—becoming victims of police violence. Profiling also contributes to minority communities being disproportionately represented throughout our criminal and juvenile justice systems.  PSJ was pleased to see Oregon lawmakers begin tackling this issue with the passage of House Bill 2002 in 2015.

While we and our social justice allies accomplished much this session, we have more work to do. With support from everyone from the president to local legislative leaders on both sides of the aisle, there is reason for optimism. At the same time, we should not underestimate what it will take to build an effective system that we believe in, rather than simply tearing down one that have now.

Meet Our Coalition Partner: Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon

Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon is the statewide political voice for women’s health care and for Planned Parenthood’s 12 health centers serving communities from Ashland to Bend to Milwaukie. PPAO defends the Planned Parenthood mission by advocating for public policy that will enhance and protect women’s health; by building support and accountability among our elected officials in Oregon; and by engaging and motivating the public. 

At Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon, we know that women’s health and economic well-being go hand in hand. More than a third of female voters have struggled to afford prescription birth control at some point in their lives and, as a result, used birth control inconsistently. Women make up nearly two-thirds of minimum-wage workers, the vast majority of whom receive no paid sick days. For every dollar men earned in 2012, Oregon women earned 79 cents – and black and Hispanic women earned even less on average.

That’s why we’re proud to be part of the Fair Shot for All Coalition, which helps level the playing field for women and working families. The Affordable Care Act’s birth control benefit is already saving women across the country a whopping $1.4 billion a year, but we still have a long way to go. The ability to plan, prevent and space pregnancies is directly linked to benefits to women, men, children and society, including more educational and economic opportunities, healthier babies, more stable families and a reduced taxpayer burden.

PPAO at the Fair Shot 2016 Legislative Agenda launch!

Meet Our Coalition Partner: PCUN

PCUN, Oregon’s Farmworker Union, A member of the Fair Shot Coalition.
 
PCUN (Northwest Treeplanters and Farmworkers United) is Oregon's union of farmworkers, nursery and reforestation workers.  PCUN is the state's largest Latino organization.  98% of PCUN’s 6,500 members are low-income immigrants from Mexico and Central America.
 
Our mission is to change the agricultural labor system in a manner that institutionalizes better working and living conditions, redresses the power imbalance between growers and workers, and establishes respect, fairness and dignity as the bases for the employment relationship. 
 
Together, PCUN and it’s sister organizations reach and engage an astounding variety of people and entities:  farmworkers, Latino youth, new immigrants, new citizens, immigrants leaving agricultural for construction and service work, allies in small business, in labor, religious, student, environmental, human rights, civil liberties and community groups, the media, public officials, law enforcement, local educators, growers, consumers and financial institutions.  The list of programmatic areas is similarly comprehensive:  workplace power and security, housing, emergency aid, child care and pre-school, police abuse and discrimination, educational equality, government and corporate accountability, adult education, public school curricula, economic self-help, public awareness and understanding of farmworkers and immigrants, public policy analysis and advocacy, litigation, immigration casework, cultural activities, community-base radio documentation and archiving, coalition and alliance building.

Speaker Kotek and students from PCUN at the minimum wage public hearing in April. 

Meet Our Coalition Partner: Oregon Action

Oregon Action works across urban and rural divides to build a unified intercultural movement for justice in Oregon. For over 30 years we have been empowering people to come together and advocate on their own behalf to address community needs in areas such as access to healthcare, immigrant rights, racial justice, wages, affordable housing, student debt, voter registration, and turnout. Through leadership development and community organizing, we provide the organizational base for participatory democracy, just communities, and a fair economy.

We envision a community where immigrants don’t fear local police, law enforcement is trained and committed to community policing, where everyone has access to affordable education and quality healthcare regardless of background or income, where no one works and lives in poverty, and where our local, state, and federal representatives are accountable to a strong community of trained leaders and the chamber of commerce has to wait to get an appointment.

Like most of our partners and fellow Fair Shot coalition members, we know we’re more powerful when we work together. Oregon Action is part of the coalition not only because of the collective strength behind it, but also because of its commitment to holding itself and its members accountable to the voices that our movements so often ignore—the voices, needs, and leadership of communities of color, immigrants, women, refugees, LGBTQ, and rural communities.

Oregon Action members rallying for a fair shot!

Meet Our Coalition Partner: Oregon Nurses Association

The Oregon Nurses Association is Oregon’s oldest and largest nursing union and professional association. We are proud to represent more than 13,000 registered nurses, advanced practice nurses and nursing students in Oregon. Oregon nurses make up the largest segment of Oregon’s health care workforce, and practice in nearly every health care setting, from large hospitals to local clinics, from corrections to school-based health centers, and in community-based public health.  Nurses understand the connection between public health and policy, which is why we advocated for the Fair Shot issues, particularly around paid sick days and raising the minimum wage. 

ONA’s nurses brought their voices to testimony at the capitol on the public health importance of keeping sick workers at home. Low-wage workers should not have to choose between paying their rent or working while sick. And thanks to the passage of the paid sick days legislation, Oregon workers can now stay home from work when they or their children are ill, keeping their co-workers and members of the public healthy, speeding up their own recovery time, and bolstering out health care system by addressing treatable illnesses before they worsen. Before the passage of this legislation, nurses saw far too many people going into work sick, putting Oregon’s families and communities at greater risk. 

Oregon nurses also understand the importance of maintaining living wage jobs to improve our state’s health and economy. For hundreds of thousands of working Oregonians and their families, raising the minimum wage could also have life-changing health benefits -- research shows that income affects the rates at which individuals contract diseases like diabetes, arthritis, and heart disease; and the likelihood they will suffer premature mortality. Raising children out of poverty in particular can have long-lasting effects that improve Oregonians’ health and extend their lives; from healthier births to fewer chronic diseases later in life. By ensuring every Oregonian has the ability to earn a living wage we can help improve the health of workers and their families.

ONA Executive Director Susan King testifying alongside the AFL-CIO's Tom Chamberlain in support of passing paid sick days. 

Meet Our Coalition Partner: Oregon Education Association

The Oregon Education Association represents approximately 43,000 professional educators across the state of Oregon, working every day for the schools Oregon children deserve. OEA fights for educational policy that best serves our students, but also fights for a society that sends kids to school ready to learn and succeed. 

That is why OEA is a proud leader of the Fair Shot coalition. We worked with the coalition to help pass a number of policies that will strengthen families and provide students the foundation to succeed in school.  

OEA was proud to help lead the way on passing earned sick time for all Oregonians, because of the impact it will have on a child’s success in school. Teachers routinely have students in their classes who must miss school in order to care for a younger sibling because their parents can’t afford to take time off; in other instances, students come to school sick because there is no one available to stay home and care for them. This will change with the passage of Oregon’s new earned sick time law.  

Educators also know that students’ scholastic performance suffers when their parents don’t earn enough to support a family. OEA members routinely purchase with their own money clothing and school supplies for students whose families are unable to afford them. OEA continues to work with coalition partners to increase Oregon’s minimum wage so that more parents who work full time will be able to afford basic items such as school clothes and pens and pencils.  

By working together with the coalition, the Oregon Education Association will help make sure that every Oregon student has a fair shot.

OEA members meeting with Representative Barton for a lobby visit.