A View of the State of Working Oregon Despite improvement from the worst levels, Oregon’s labor market and employment levels
Worker Power
The power of organized labor has brought us weekends, sick leave, and the minimum wage. However, worker power has decreased during decades of attacks by corporate interests and neglect by the federal government. Increasing the strength of workers is vital to making the economy work for everyone.
Worker Power
The power of organized labor has brought us weekends, sick leave, and the minimum wage. However, worker power has decreased during decades of attacks by corporate interests and neglect by the federal government. Increasing the strength of workers is vital to making the economy work for everyone.
Latest Articles
Ask any Oregon lawmaker what is his or her highest priority and almost invariably the answer is “jobs.” So it’s
Not too long ago, the state economists showed how deep the Great Recession’s impact has been on Oregon’s employment compared
Even in cases where state authorities have found that employers failed to pay workers their wages and sought payment, employers
Wage claims filed recently with state officials show that the problem of wage theft in Oregon has not gone away.
Tens of thousands of unemployed Oregonians need Congress to act now to extend Emergency Unemployment Insurance (see this story and
News Release Many Oregon workers face a more difficult and uncertain path to recovering wages stolen by employers, now that
As OCPP wrote recently, research shows that wage theft is a widespread problem in Oregon and the nation. Wage theft
Wage theft is inherently challenging to quantify. Wage theft occurs when employers pay workers less than the minimum wage, don’t
OCPP tallies claims against construction, information, hotel and restaurant industries
Latest Podcasts

Income Inequality in Oregon: What Does the Latest Data Show?
Income inequality in Oregon remains vast, but history shows this is not inevitable.
December 11, 2025

How Trump Is Hiding Hunger and Why Poverty Persists
This episode examines what the end of the federal food security report means for Oregon, as well as why poverty is a policy failure, not an individual failure.
November 13, 2025

How big corporations hide their profits — and how to stop it
Listen to prior episodes of the show Follow Policy for the People on your favorite podcast app Transcript
October 9, 2025
