The Union Connection: How Oregon’s New Position Leverages Resources for Workers

When you think of leverage, you might think about the old cartoons where the Wile E. Coyote uses the weight of rocks and levers to catch the Roadrunner. For us, leverage is about using our collective resources to best serve the customer. Oregon is fortunate to have a State Labor Liaison and a Statewide Union Career Development Consultant (CDC) — positions not found in many other states. Perhaps the info we share inspires you to develop or expand similar positions in your state!

Our State Labor Liaison, Josh Hall, is a subject matter expert on unions, positioned in the Oregon Workforce Investments (OWI)/Dislocated Worker Unit (DWU). He supports partners and customers including Workforce boards, the Trade Act program, the Employment Department, Individuals, Unions, and the OWI/DWU.

In this role, Josh helps mitigate risk between the State and unions by educating partners around the complexities and legalities of exclusive representation to avoid conflicts.

He serves on a local workforce board, supports the 30 labor representatives in Oregon, and is a key partner in union-represented Rapid Responses statewide. Oregon’s Trade Act Program Manager, Shelly Forsberg, saw potential for enhanced collaboration between the State Labor Liaison, the Statewide Business Services teams, and the Trade Act Program. In 2022, Shelly created the Statewide Union Career Development Consultant role to help foster collaboration.

Since the inception of the new position, the State Labor Liaison and Statewide Union Career Development Consultant have collaborated to help workers across Oregon. Communication is key. We meet weekly to share information about pending layoffs, projects, Trade Act, layoff aversion, and rapid response customer service activities. Using Trade Act resources, we researched certified petitions from the past seven years, and combined that data with EconovueTM, a program piloted by two local workforce boards. We used that info to help identify potentially trade-impacted companies for outreach and layoff aversion strategies.

Despite Trade’s “pending reauthorization," we still plan customer outreach around layoffs. During a recent layoff, Josh used his union connection to obtain a list of 225 employees from the union. (Tip: Union reps can provide better employee info than the company.) The Statewide Union Career Development Consultant then researched employee names in the Trade case management system. 18 individuals were certified under previous petitions, and Navigators contacted them for reengagement. 

Josh also plays a pivotal role in on-the-job Training (OJT) negotiations with union employers. As Josh works with the union leadership team, I connect Navigators and CDCs with progress updates. This division of duties is a big asset to our collaboration, allowing Josh to work with the union to prevent any contractual conflicts, and lean on my position within Trade and our resources to support those efforts. These are just a few examples of how my new position as the Statewide Union CDC and the Statewide Labor Liaison leverage resources.

While we may lack Wile E’s rocks and levers, we do understand that if we leverage our collective resources, we can do great things for the customer.

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• Posted by: Susan Manikowski
• Posted in: Trade Adjustment Assistance for Workers