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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

"The New Face of Labor" Smiles in Bend

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Friday, September 27, 2013   

BEND, Ore. - More than 300 Oregon union members gather today in Bend, and one of the things they say might surprise first-timers to their convention is the diversity represented there. The Oregon AFL-CIO Convention theme is "The New Face of Labor." Workshops will focus on strengthening alliances with community groups, social justice organizations and workers who need fair wages, fair treatment and, in some cases, legal status to work in the United States.

Bruce Morris is part of what the union calls its "Oregon Strong Voice Coalition." The board chair of the Rural Organizing Project said the struggles for immigration reform and marriage equality have similar goals.

"Basically, the tie-in for us is family," Morris said. "How can labor work together with other groups to help more families with what families need to thrive - to survive, in some ways - and to revive a middle class that is falling?"

Members of the Oregon Strong Voice Coalition are not voting delegates, but will be allowed on the convention floor. The delegates will be voting on more than 30 resolutions, including supporting paid sick time and health insurance for all workers, defending Social Security and Medicare, and including union apprenticeships as part of Oregon's education goals.

Inclusiveness was also a big priority at last month's national AFL-CIO convention in Los Angeles, but Oregon's labor movement had adopted this approach even before it became a national trend. Community college instructor Jaimie Rodriguez, a member of the American Federation of Teachers, said these events are good for building morale and getting ideas.

"I'm hoping that we get more information on how to continue building labor, engaging all groups that have similar interests for working class, middle class ability to move upward, on the social ladder," said Rodriguez. "And I'm looking forward to the speakers; the speakers are always great."

This year's lineup of speakers includes Sen. Jeff Merkley and Gov. John Kitzhaber, as well as national spokespeople for domestic workers and farmworkers. The Oregon AFL-CIO Convention continues through midday Sunday at the Riverhouse, Bend. Information and the conference schedule are available at www.faceoflabor.org.




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