By OSEA President Sarah Wofford
It’s been more than a month since Legislative Education Day (LED), and I am still riding high from the excitement and energy I felt when OSEA members gathered at the State Capitol. If you aren’t aware already, LED is our biennial day of education and advocacy at the State Capitol. Members from every corner of the state come to Salem to meet with elected representatives and share our perspective and expertise on issues in the education sector.
I left LED with a renewed awareness that when OSEA members get together, we are a force to be reckoned with.
The actions lawmakers take affect us directly as educators and Oregonians and it is so empowering to realize we can shape those actions. I have no doubt that more than 100 OSEA members and allies, sharing our front-line stories with lawmakers, made an impact. If you were one of the members who attended LED and made it such an amazing event, I want to give you a big shout out and a sincere thank you! And if you missed it, please plan to join us for the next LED in the spring of 2025.
Now, we put the momentum we built at LED to good use. OSEA members continue to advocate, share our stories and work with legislators to pass new laws addressing the biggest challenges we face. In our chapters, bargaining teams are fighting to protect our rights and organizing campaigns are making our union even stronger. At the State Office, we are looking forward to Conference 2023, June 22 to June 24 in Portland. This all means there are lots of opportunities to get involved — by testifying at the Capitol, representing your chapter as a Conference delegate or volunteering as a worksite organizer.
We often say, ‘we are stronger together.’ To me, this means every single member contributes something valuable to our union family. We each sparkle in a unique way, and, when we stand together, we are unstoppable!