SAG-AFTRA Represents at 2019 Oregon AFL-CIO Convention

The labor movement in the United States is gaining strength, and nowhere was that more apparent than at the Oregon AFL-CIO biennial convention, which took place Sept. 19–22 in Seaside, Oregon. Portland Local officers Harold Phillips and Chrisse Roccaro joined more than 300 union family members to pass the resolutions that would guide the state federation’s policy action.  

Joining the Portland Local delegation was SAG-AFTRA Executive Vice President Rebecca Damon, who sat with other women labor leaders on a panel that addressed sexual harassment. 
Damon shared the groundbreaking work that SAG-AFTRA is doing in this area, then she joined the Portland delegation for the rest of the convention. 

Enthusiasm was buoyed by rousing addresses by national leaders such as AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler, Art Pulaski of the California Labor Federation, J. David Cox Sr. of AFGE; MaryBe McMillan of North Carolina AFL-CIO; and our own local heroes, Oregon Labor Commissioner Val Hoyle; Sen. Shemia Fagan; Sarita Gupta and Reyna Lopez.  

Keynote speaker Sen. Jeff Merkley fired up the crowd and led the action as the delegates headed out to a flash mob demonstration at the Warrenton Fred Meyer in support of the workers of UFCW Local 555. That was followed up by a march in the streets of Astoria in support of the nurses at Columbia Memorial Hospital. 

The finale of the convention was the election of Graham Trainor as president and Christy O’Neill as secretary-treasurer of the Oregon AFL-CIO and the new Executive Committee. This term, IATSE business rep Rose Etta Venetucci will represent the entertainment trades on the committee.  

Thanks and tributes echoed throughout the weekend for outgoing President Tom Chamberlain and Secretary-Treasurer Barbara Byrd, as they ended 14 years leading the Oregon AFL-CIO into a new era of solidarity and support for the working people of Oregon. The SAG-AFTRA Portland Local is ready to march into the future with the Oregon AFL-CIO.

Photo: Delegates from the SAG-AFTRA Portland Local show their solidarity with newly elected Oregon AFL-CIO leadership. From left, Portland Local Vice President Harold Phillips, Oregon AFL-CIO President Graham Trainor, SAG-AFTRA EVP Rebecca Damon, Oregon AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Christy O’Neill, and Portland Local Secretary Chrisse Roccaro. Photo by Oregon AFL-CIO.