Oregon Community Join to Support Solutions for Working Families

New University of Oregon Report Highlights Need for Action to Address the High Cost of Low Wages

Portland, Ore. – Community and labor organizations from across the state will join at 9:30 am on Thursday, January 8th at the Center for Intercultural Organizing in Portland to launch Fair Shot for All, a new coalition that is supporting solutions to create economic opportunity for Oregon’s working families.

During the upcoming legislative session, Fair Shot for All will push Oregon lawmakers to approve policies that stand to create real change for Oregonians.

The coalition’s priorities include:

• Raising the minimum wage;
• Ensuring all Oregonians earn paid sick days;
• Ending profiling;
• Making saving for retirement easier; and
• Creating job opportunities for people with prior convictions and arrests.

The need for a new approach to economic opportunity is highlighted in The High Cost of Low Wages in Oregon, a new report from the University of Oregon’s Labor Education and Research Center that details the growth of low wage work in Oregon and illuminates the financial crisis that low wage, no benefits jobs have created for working families and Oregon taxpayers. Copies of the report will be available at the Fair Shot for All launch event.

Fair Shot for All includes Family Forward Oregon, SEIU, the Urban League of Portland, Oregon AFL-CIO, Center for Intercultural Organizing, Oregon Education Association, CAUSA, Basic Rights Oregon, UFCW, Rural Organizing Project, PCUN, AFSCME, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon, Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon, Oregon Action, and an ever-growing coalition from across Oregon.

When:
Thursday, January 8, 2015, 9:30 AM

Where:
Center for Intercultural Organizing
700 N. Killingsworth St.
Portland, OR 97217

What:
Launch of Fair Shot for All, a new statewide coalition of community and labor groups pushing for real policy solutions to address economic inequality.

Why:
As the gap between the wealthy and working families continues to grow, it has become increasingly clear that the economy is working only for a few. Despite working hard, many of us are left struggling from zero retirement savings and work policies that simply don’t work for families. On top of that, staggering opportunity gaps and long-standing inequalities faced by communities of color leave us even further behind. It’s time to un-stack the deck so everyone has an opportunity to succeed. We need policies that fix our broken economy and give all of us a fair shot.

Who:
A diverse group of organizations with a shared goal to give Oregon women and working families a fair shot at getting ahead, not just getting by. Fair Shot for All includes Family Forward Oregon, SEIU, the Urban League of Portland, Oregon AFL-CIO, Center for Intercultural Organizing, Oregon Education Association, CAUSA, Basic Rights Oregon, PCUN, UFCW, Rural Organizing Project, AFSCME, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon, Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon, Oregon Action, and an ever-growing coalition from across Oregon.

To learn more, visit www.fairshotoregon.org