PORTLAND, OR - Over the last few weeks, employees at Lines for Life, a 24-hour crisis line non-profit based in Portland, voted by an overwhelming majority to join Oregon AFSCME.

State lawmakers must prioritize Oregon’s working families and those left behind during the pandemic. While corporate profits skyrocket, our state has serious issues affecting everyday Oregonians that must be addressed. Every county in the state is a child care desert due to a lack of support for parents and child care providers, especially parents and providers of color. Oregon has the highest rate of addiction in the country because of historic underinvestment in treatment service staffing that has only gotten worse since the pandemic.

Bargaining is around the corner! This is a historic opportunity for us, health care interpreters, to negotiate for fair working conditions with the State of Oregon. Our work has gone unrecognized for far too long, this pandemic has brought even more challenges to our work and while many have left the industry, we also know that Covid-19 has disproportionately impacted the communities we serve. Many of us continue to do this work because we know how critical it is for the thousands of immigrants, refugees and hard-of-hearing patients.