Oregon has a rich history of supporting workers and their economic contributions. Here are five things to know about Oregon workers on the eve of their national holiday.
Oregon was the first state to make Labor Day an official holiday in 1887.
Oddly, lawmakers selected the first Saturday in June. Four other states created the holiday later that year. Labor Day was signed into law as a federal holiday in 1894.
Oregon enacted the nation’s first mandatory minimum wage law.
In 1913, the bill passed the state Senate unanimously and drew only three nays in the House. It was designed to “protect the lives and health and morals of women and minor workers,” according to the Oregon Encyclopedia.
It took a quarter century of strikes and labor unrest before the Federal Labor Standards Act of 1938 set a federal minimum wage, established a 40-hour work week, and mandated overtime pay.
Oregon also became the first state to use a tiered wage structure.
In 2016, Oregon created three minimum wages. The highest applied within the Portland urban growth boundary ($16.80 today), the lowest rate in rural areas ($14.55 today), and a middle tier ($15.55 today) for the rest of the state. New York has since adopted a geographical and business-size tiered system; New Jersey adopted tiers proportional to the type and size of the business.
Oregon’s top minimum wage is the country’s fifth highest.
Along with its tiered minimum wage rates, Oregon also boosted the state’s minimum wage in 2016 to the ...
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