March 05 2021
Graham Trainor is president of the Oregon AFL-CIO, the federation of labor unions representing more than 300,000 working Oregonians. Reyna Lopez is executive director of PCUN, representing farmworkers and Latinx working families.
In times of crisis, real leaders are forged.
During the year since Oregon's first confirmed case of COVID-19, countless examples of empathetic, worker-centered leadership have been showcased. When elected officials listen to workers, the policies they pass are stronger and more responsive to the needs of working families. For example, Oregon created and funded the Oregon Worker Relief Fund to ensure farmworkers who help put food on our tables and are least likely to have access to enough paid sick time could quarantine when needed.