September 22, 2015
By Steve Wishnia and Neal Tepel
Oregon lawyer Jill Gibson said Sept.15 that she is leaning toward abandoning her campaign for a ballot initiative that would exempt public employees from paying union dues rather than circulate petitions for it under a title she disliked. The state Attorney General’s office titled it "Non-union public employees may benefit from union bargaining without sharing representation costs; modifies representation obligations," and the state Supreme Court upheld that wording Sept. 10.
That title "makes it appear the measure is about non-members getting something for free, and that's not at all what the measure does," Gibson told the Portland Oregonian. But that’s exactly what the initiative would do, Oregon union officials responded. “Once you have workers who come together to solve problems, they solve problems for everyone," said Ben Unger, executive director of Our Oregon, a union-allied group campaigning for a higher minimum wage. Read more
