Oregon election systems weren't penetrated

The Association of Oregon Corrections Employees has joined the chorus of public sector unions who say they won’t support lawmakers in next year’s elections in light of efforts by the legislature to reduce public employee pensions.

Senate Bill 1049 cut retirement benefits in an effort to reduce costs to the state, angering unions who represent those workers and who often contribute money and organizing prowess to liberal candidates.

Many Republicans voted against the measure earlier this year, in a move that observers posited was designed to back progressive Democrats into a corner, trapping them between two political realities: union support, and the need to pass PERS reform to get moderate Democrats on board to raise business taxes to fund schools.

“Legislators who profess support for labor on the campaign trail need to put their votes where their values are once they are in office,” said Dan Weber, president of the Association of Oregon Corrections Employees, in an announcement last week. “To do otherwise is hypocritical, and unacceptable and unsupportable.”

AOCE represents nearly 800 workers.