‘Power to the workers’: Annual Central Oregon Labor Day Picnic brings out union members and local officials
(Update: Adding video, comments from attendees)
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Central Oregon union members and their families gathered with local officials Monday at the annual Labor Day Picnic at Bend’s Alpenglow Park, to celebrate labor gains at the local level and talk about issues to address.
"Labor Day really is all about bringing together the folks who work in our community," said union representative Michael Funke.
To union supporters like Funke, Labor Day isn't just a day off or the unofficial end to summer. It's a time to reflect on the triumphs of organized workers across the state.
"It's about the working people coming together collectively, for the betterment of everyone," Funke said.
Central Oregon has a total of 16 labor unions, ranging from teachers and nurses to builders and grocery workers.
Among the speakers this day were Deschutes County Commissioner Phil Chang.
"I've gotten to see it a bunch in the last couple of years," Chang said. "You know, just as last winter, the teachers' union fighting for a fair contract with the Bend-La Pine School District just last year, the nurses' union fighting for a fair contract with St. Charles."
Other local leaders spoke to the picnic-goers Monday, as the peak of election season approaches.
State Rep. Emerson Levy said, "We just got so much incredible work done, and we did it with the help of our governor, with the help of our president, the most pro-union president we have ever had. And we saw the effect that had on our local community."
Union members like Josefina Riggs used the picnic to raise awareness of the current fight for better rights for home care workers. Riggs is part of the Local 503 of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), advocating to increase pay for health care service workers to $25 an hour.
"You know, the cost of life today, the groceries, the rent. We have some members that are homeless as well," Riggs said.
Local union leaders said members had much to celebrate—strong contracts for essential workers in the Bend-La Pine Schools and nurses at St. Charles Bend, contract gains won in the building trades, the current campaign for a new contract for medical techs at St. Charles, and union organizing at the Bend Bulletin.
The one message unions want you to take away from your Labor Day: "I guess all I would say is, power to the workers," Funke said.
