School Workers

Bill Resnick talks with Tricia Smith. She started in politics as a community activist in Keizer-Salem, got fed up with the state legislature, ran against the Republican leader and, shockingly, won, got recognized as tireless bulldog for working people. She was defeated when the Republicans put big money into the next election in what was a swing district. A single mother at the time, she began working for the Oregon School Employees Association, organizing and lobbying. They talk about OSEA workers, the lowest paid state workers: who they are and what they do, how unappreciated they are by state legislators, and how loved they are by parents.