Climate Justice
Our members include tens of thousands of Oregonians experiencing the direct impacts of climate change. We understand that Oregon must be a leader in taking immediate, bold action to preserve our state, its resources, and our communities for future generations. SEIU Local 503 was the first major Oregon labor union to endorse the Green New Deal, signaling our members’ commitment to a 100% clean and renewable energy economy. As state policies are created to address climate change in Oregon, SEIU is committed to making sure there is a just transition for workers into the new green economy and a plan in place to protect communities disproportionately impacted as we make the transition.
Fair Shot
With long-standing inequalities getting in the way of real opportunities for many of us, and a growing gap between the wealthy and working families, it is clear that the economy is working for only a privileged few. Too many Oregonians are struggling while corporations profit off of low-wage, no-benefit jobs, and rely on state subsidies to fill in the gaps for Oregon families who are working but still can’t get ahead. The status quo simply doesn’t work for many of us – women, people of color, LGBTQ communities, immigrants, and working families. In an effort to change this, SEIU came together with other labor unions and community partners to create the Fair Shot for All Coalition in 2014.
Fair Shot for All is an economic justice coalition focused on creating opportunities for all working families to thrive, and dismantling historic and systemic economic inequities for Oregonians who identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or people of color (BIPOC); womxn; immigrants; and/or LGBTQ+. Fair Shot’s work centers racial and gender equity that seeks to address inequalities through organizing and concrete policy change.
Public Safety Reform and Police Accountability
In our union, we believe in and fight for our vision of a just society; where all workers are valued and all people respected, no matter where we are from or the color of our skin; where all families and communities can thrive; where we leave a more just and equitable world for generations to come; and where our public safety and criminal justice system builds strong families and safer communities.
Oregon’s criminal justice system continues to disproportionately detain, criminalize, and harm communities of color. We must approach public safety and police accountability with a racial justice lens that provides transparency and accountability and restores Oregonians who are impacted by the criminal justice system. We must value and amplify the voices of Black leadership. To that end, we commit to take the following actions:
- Joining and supporting federal, state and local demands with elected officials and candidates, including using our influence to ensure that Black-led community organizations have a seat at the table.
- Working in partnership and collaboration with Black-led community organizations to hold corporations accountable for the ways they maintain structural racism.
- Leading in our role as a labor union by:
- Helping to build and deepen the investment of the labor movement and other movement partners to stand in solidarity with the Movement for Black Lives.
- Engaging our own membership and promoting the cross-racial solidarity that is so vital in this moment.
- Renewing our pledge to becoming an anti-racist organization as laid out in our 2016 convention resolution.
Our current policy priorities are:
- Limiting when people can be stopped by police, which will save lives and police time.
- Making supervision more trauma-informed and supportive.
- Investing in community initiatives that support our vision of safety.