AFT-Oregon members engage democratically at their locals and through our statewide federation in political and legislative advocacy on behalf of fellow workers and the students we serve.
What does AFT-Oregon’s political and legislative team look like?
The Vice President for Political Action is the chair of the AFT-Oregon Politics, Policy, Legislation and Solidarity (PPLS) Council and of our Political Action Committee (PAC). This member leader is elected every two years at the AFT-Oregon Convention.
The PPLS Council is the principal deliberative body for our federation and consists of members from across our locals. The PPLS Council builds political power through across-the-state political communication and coordination in order to imagine new possibilities, develop member leaders and activists, elevate the political consciousness of membership, establish relationships with key office holders and political candidates, take political action, and foster working class relationships and solidarity across unions and community groups.
Any AFT-Oregon member can join your PPLS Council. We recommend at least one leader from your executive council or steward structure join. To learn more, please fill out this form or email Luke Nearhood, VP for Political Action (vppolitics@aft-oregon.org).
The AFT-Oregon Executive Council votes on every PPLS Council recommendation that moves forward to them, most importantly as a system of checks-and-balances for organizational endorsements and campaign contributions through our small-donor PAC.
AFT-Oregon also has political and legislative staff to help members achieve their goals. Your staff point of contact for support, organizing, training, and information is Harper Haverkamp, PhD (harperh@aft-oregon.org).
Why does AFT-Oregon endorse candidates and ballot measures?
Our students and workplaces across public education in Oregon rely first and foremost on resilient funding from the Oregon Legislature and adequate revenue to stay strong. This is the foremost statewide issue that members advocate and organize towards. The key decision makers are state lawmakers in the Oregon House and Senate.
AFT-Oregon’s political team, composed of members like you from across our locals, develops questions which address issues such as revenue, union rights, academic freedom, and student support. This questionnaire is provided to candidates.
Once a candidate has completed and returned a questionnaire, the PPLS Council invites the candidate to a follow-up interview either in-person or on Zoom. The PPLS Council deliberates and makes formal recommendations to the Executive Council.
An endorsement process is an education process. It informs candidates of the real issues we face and what the real solutions are. Campaigns who are vetted and on board with AFT-Oregon priorities receive an official statement of support from AFT-Oregon. It forms a strong foundation for future communication, education, and relationship building.
How can AFT-Oregon uplift my local’s endorsements?
If you want your endorsements to be uplifted and supported by your state federation, let AFT-Oregon know. Statewide organizing and financial support can elevate your endorsement to a higher level. This form lets the statewide team know who is connected with your local and utilize fellow members’ small-donor funds to support them. Use this form to submit your local endorsements for statewide political match.
What is the difference between an endorsement and a campaign contribution?
An endorsement of a campaign means that AFT-Oregon supports the campaign. We provide our logo and permission to use our name and image.
A contribution to a campaign is a monetary donation from AFT-Oregon to that campaign. Endorsements usually precede contributions (i.e. we would show general support for a campaign before we would give money to the campaign).
An endorsement may lead to a monetary contribution, but does not need to. An endorsement could lead to other forms of support, such as time volunteered by our members or an advertisement of the campaign through our communications channels. The ways in which members like yourself show support for a campaign is up to fellow members of your union.
Why is it important for members to donate into their AFT-Oregon small-donor PAC?
Our opponents are well financed and funded. We need to face them head on. Having fellow union members donate $5 or more a month is critical to pushing back against corporate-controlled politics. It is only through member power and member funding that we have a strong political program.
PAC funds contributed to a candidate or a campaign pay for field organizing, educational materials, rallies, and more to win. This includes fundraising towards a member-led AFT-Oregon campaign if we raise enough money - such as a campaign initiated by membership to elect a member into office or pass a ballot measure of our own.
AFT-Oregon’s small-donor PAC is funded through paycheck deduction, requiring your local to coordinate with AFT-Oregon and your workplace’s HR or Finance department, and possibly add new contract language during bargaining. Once established and integrated into your membership process and paycheck deductions, it is a powerful tool for building union power at the ballot and in the community.
This is an example of a PAC signup form on an AFT-Oregon local’s website. Contact AFT-Oregon Data Specialist Pete Seuchting at petes@aft-oregon.org if you would like to create an online sign up form for your local. We can also help you make sure your contract language and paper membership forms include this important signup.
Guide: How to kickstart your local’s political and legislative action
Management, corporations, and high finance executives who are carving out public education funding and eroding student learning are having their voices heard and building leverage across city halls and our state legislature.
The labor movement is here to do the same in order to push back and win against them. Your local has a key role to play in building grassroots and democratic labor power at every level of society. AFT-Oregon is here to help.
1. Form a Political or Legislative Committee
Political or legislative committees can be used to deliberate, decide, and organize around a number of topics. Some action items can include:
- Engaging candidates running for local, county, or statewide office to engage regarding the issues you care about the most, whether on the campaign trail or with those already elected.
- Working with your bargaining team or contract action team to make direct asks of elected leaders to build public pressure for a fair public employees’ contract.
- Conducting member PAC fund donation drives or integrating PAC signups into membership blitzes.
- Coordinating involvement with AFT-Oregon’s PPLS Council and serving as a link between your local workplace union members and the statewide federation.
- Organizing around issues in your community locally at city hall or statewide at the Oregon Legislature.
- Political Education of your membership through training, guest speakers, or get-out-the-vote (GOTV) campaigns.
Some locals call their committees the “Committee On Political Education” (COPE). AFT-Oregon calls theirs the “Political and Legislative Action Committee” (PLAC). You can call yours whatever makes the most sense for your local.
Having a political action/education committee helps to ensure fair decision-making and engaging members who may not be as active in bargaining, but who are very active politically.
Your committee can have any number of individuals on it, but it should ideally represent the differences present among your members. If your local has a VP in charge of political action/education, they should head this committee.
2. Find Out Where Your Members Are At - and Who Your Leaders Are
This is important for organizing, and especially for political organizing! Knowing where your members are can help you to learn what issues your members are agitated about, get involved in your local or statewide structures, and organize them towards your union’s strategic goals. If you don’t already have your members mapped out, we can help!
The Oregon State Legislature publishes a lookup tool that maps districts out, and also allows individuals to enter their address or zip code and find out which legislators represent them.
3. Organize your members
Through your committee and informed by your membership, it is time to organize, mobilize, and activate towards your goals! As a reminder - your political and legislative staff is here to help every step of the way. Contact her at harperh@aft-oregon.org or your field organizer to support getting your local organized within politics, policy, and legislation.