Portland Congressman Urged to “Make the Link”

Over 150 labor activists filed into Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer’s office today urging him to “Make the Link” between Free Trade Agreements, job loss and state budget shortfalls.

After a kick-off speech by Greg Pallesen, Vice President of the Association of Western Pulp & Paper Workers, they entered the Congressman’s office one-by-one adding notes they had personalized to a large paper chain that grew-and-grew within his office.  Each link on the chain read:

MAKE THE LINK, CONGRESSMAN! Oregonians need jobs, but Free Trade Agreements ship them overseas.  Offshoring also reduces tax revenues, contributing to the state and city budget cuts that cause still further job loss.  Please oppose the Korea, Panama and Colombia Free Trade Agreements.

After people exited the office, they placed calls to Mr. Blumenauer’s DC office and other Members of Congress from the area.

The Oregon Fair Trade Campaign, Portland Jobs with Justice, Portland Rising and others spearheaded the action that brought together both public and private-sector unions to oppose the pending trade deals.

More photos are available here.