As we start the New Year, strident anti-worker voices seem to be everywhere. In the fall, we are likely to see a number of ballot measures funded by wealthy corporate interests designed to cripple the ability of workers to act together in their common interest. Litigation pending in the Supreme Court poses a similar threat. Some of the leading presidential candidates spew hateful, anti-immigrant messages appealing to fear and nativism, and they seem to be winning support through this call to the basest impulses of the public. And anti-government extremists stand in armed rebellion against efforts to make sensible rules about the use of our common public lands.
If workers’ voices are to penetrate this din, it will only be because we speak and act together with savvy, purpose and courage. Recent events show that when we act together, we can win both big and small advances for workers—whether in the legislature, at the ballot, or on the job site. But our ability to do this is in jeopardy. We are in a critical struggle for the future of a progressive Oregon. At NWJP we intend to weigh in on this fight, wherever and however we can. Let’s make this a year that strengthens workers’ voices and advances their interests!
Michael Dale
Founder, Executive Director, and Senior Attorney, NWJP