Published
December 04, 2025
According to the Oregon Catalyst, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 503 has issued an email alert to its members concerning a referendum petition drive aimed at repealing Governor Kotek’s recently approved $4.3 billion transportation tax.
The union email links to a Google form urging members to “OBSERVE & RECORD, ASK and REPORT BACK” to the union regarding signature gathering techniques used by those seeking to repeal the tax.
The email allegedly suggested members observe and report on petition-gathers. Perhaps this is just to ensure that they are going about things the right way, although it also sets up the potential for union harassment of those individuals.
Not everyone at the union was enamored with this tactic. In fact, a board member for SEIU Local 503 found it “deplorable” that the union would ask members to “seek out and report on those using their constitutional right to disagree with government choice.”
Local 503 donated $1.7 million to Kotek’s 2022 campaign, in which she bested Republican Christine Drazan and independent Betsy Johnson, the largest amount the union has ever given a candidate. And by supporting her transportation tax, they are advocating for Oregon residents to pay $4.3 billion in taxes.
Also under threat are basic tenets of democracy. The surveillance and intimidation tactics called for by Local 503 undermine the integrity of Oregon’s petition process. Businesses and citizens deserve a transparent, respectful dialogue—not pressure campaigns.
About the author
Michael Billet
Michael Billet, director of policy research for Employment Policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, keeps members and internal Chamber policy staff abreast of pending labor, immigration, and health care legislation, as well as federal regulatory and subregulatory activities. He is also responsible for planning the Chamber’s annual workplace and community wellness forum.
