Working Families volunteers talking to attendees of the first-ever Salem area picnic.

The WFP was founded in Oregon in 2006, but since the Oregon legislature passed the “fusion voting” law last year, the party has really been picking up steam. Earlier this month, volunteers collected over 650 signatures on each of two separate petitions to get information about the Working Families Party into the voters pamphlet. We did so in record time and with member participation all the way from Medford in the South, Pendleton in the east, and many points in between.

This volunteer effort just goes to show that the Working Families Party is truly from the grassroots.

With the election just around the corner, our volunteers will be even more important. Fusion voting will give us a new and powerful way to participate this year. Join us as we fight to create a voice for working people in Oregon politics!

Candidates for Congress were asked to support moves toward a single-payer, not-for-profit system of universal health care; to insist on labor standards when federal funds are used to stimulate the economy; to co-sponsor and actively support the TRADE Act, a bill that would turn away from NAFTA-style trade policy; to support legislation to make it easier for workers to unionize and get a first contract; and to vote for the strongest possible financial regulatory reform.”

Read the whole article here.

This is more than a stack of papers. These petitions represent the hard work of WFP activists all over the state.

Just two weeks ago we told you that in order to get our information in this year’s Oregon voters’ pamphlet we had to either pay several thousand dollars to the state, or collect enough signatures from registered voters to have our statement appear for FREE. Being a grass-roots kind of organization we decided to go get some signatures.

Well, we did it.

Not only did we meet our signature goal, we smashed it–collecting well over the 500 needed on both of our petitions. What’s more impressive is how we did it. Over 60 volunteers came out to help gather signatures from 13 different counties — as far south as Jackson County and as far east as Umatilla county.

Clearly there is a real hunger in Oregon for a party that fights for working people for a change.

But if you stop and think about it, the Voters’ Pamphlet is actually pretty amazing. For no money at all, a political party (like, you know, the Working Families Party) can have its message sent to every registered voter in the state. That’s more than 2 million people.

There’s just one catch: We have to collect 500 signatures from registered voters, otherwise it’ll cost thousands of dollars to print our statement. We’re having petitioning parties this Saturday, August 14th in the following cites. Can you join us for one?

Eugene/Springfield: 10:00 AM
Portland: 10:00 AM
Salem/Keizer: 1:00 PM

Click here to sign up and for details.

Working Families Party members reviewed their questionnaires and conducted interviews, and determined that these candidates are committed to fighting for Oregon’s working families.

We look forward to supporting these candidates in this fall’s elections, and to working with them to pass important legislation in the 2011 session, including our proposal for an Oregon State Bank and universal disability insurance.

This is the first year of “fusion voting” here in Oregon. The WFP is proud to have worked to make Oregon the first state in the country to re-legalize fusion. Click here to learn more.

UPDATE: Listen to a podcast of Oregon WFP Co-Chair Barbara Dudley discussing priority issues and nominations with Carl Wolfson on KPOJ’s “Carl in the Morning.” (Barbara’s interview starts at minute 16:40 in the podcast)

Individuals who are interested in learning more about the WFP are welcome to attend, but only registered members may vote for delegates.

Not yet registered? Grab your driver’s license and head to http://oregonwfp.org/register and you’ll be on your way.

You can also RSVP by emailing us at info@oregonwfp.org. And feel free to write to us with any questions.

The aim of the Oregon Working Families Party is to influence state policy by uniting rural and urban voters around kitchen table economic issues that matter to working people. The party . . . promotes itself as “the blue collar, pocketbook issues party,” says Jeff Anderson, a member of the party’s steering committee.

A powerful tool it will use to push its agenda is an electoral strategy called fusion voting, a version of which became legal again in Oregon in 2009. It allows political parties to cross-nominate candidates on the ballot — that is, to give their support to candidates from other parties.

“It allows us to endorse candidates and then hold them accountable,” said Barbara Dudley, party co-chair, “without running our own candidates who could function as spoilers.”

Read more at http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/05/small_party_wants_bigger_say_o.html

Chapters are a vital part of the WFP. They’re the living presence of the Party in communities around the state, and they play a critical role in deciding what issues the WFP prioritizes and which candidates we nominate.

If you would like to organize a chapter, or connect with an existing one in your area, just email us at info@oregonwfp.org and we’ll give you all the information you need.

Upcoming chapter meeting details:

Portland: Tuesday, June 8th at 6:30 PM
ILWU Local 40
2401 NW 23rd Ave, Portland

Mid-Valley: Saturday, June 19th at 5:30 PM
Porter’s Pub
4820 River Road North, Keizer

The party’s first experience at the ballot box suggests that voters may be receptive to [the WFP's] agenda: J. Ashlee Albies, who ran as a Working Families Party candidate for attorney general in 2008, got over 10 percent of the vote statewide, and over 16 percent in 10 rural Eastern Oregon counties that traditionally vote Republican. And Albies’ campaign consisted of little more than a Voters’ Pamphlet statement and $100 worth of bumper stickers.

“Across the country, Americans are leaving the major parties in droves,” said Teamsters Local 206 President Tom Leedham at a March 30 Oregon Working Families Party meeting in Portland. “This void in leadership can be filled by right-wing crackpots or fake populists, or it can be filled by a political party dedicated to the economic interests of working people. We intend to be that party, not as a spoiler, but as an organization willing to hold politicians accountable. We’re dedicated to supporting candidates, Democrats, Republicans, or independents, who are committed to fighting for affordable health care, decent jobs, and quality education.”

Read more at http://www.nwlaborpress.org/2010/0416/4-16-10WFP.html

Portland State University professor Barbara Dudley has a bolder idea to keep money in the local economy: a state bank modeled after North Dakota’s.

“One of the main reasons why we’re having trouble with jobs is because there’s no credit out there,” says Dudley, who teaches public administration and sociology and is co-chairwoman of the Oregon Working Families Party.

A state bank could partner with Oregon-based community banks to generate more loans to homegrown employers, she says.

Big national banks are paid to underwrite Oregon bonds and earn a fee every time an unemployment check is disbursed in Oregon, she says, suggesting those and other functions could be handled by a state bank.

Read the full story here: Can we cure what ails us?

Click here for more information on our Oregon State Bank proposal.