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Ashland pair raise new party flag Labor Party would aid working class By PAUL FATTIG ASHLAND -- Democratic party activist Wes Brain resigned as chairman of the Ashland Democratic caucus on Jan. 10. Four days later, he stepped down from the Jackson County Democratic Central Committee. Now the Ashland resident is helping to organize a Labor Party movement in Southern Oregon, one he believes will catch fire politically. "My resignations had nothing to do with our local Democrats," he stressed. "We've got some wonderful activists and candidates, those who won and those who didn't win. I think the world of those people. "But when you get to the state level, you start losing it," he added. "And when you get to the national level, they don't give a rat's ass about you and me, common working people." Moreover, he figures a growing number of other voters, Democrat and Republican alike, are becoming frustrated with the political status quo. "The last time folks voted (general election) we had the lowest turnout we've ever had," he said. "A lot of people are disenchanted with both parties. "In fact, of those who are registered, we've got over 24 percent saying, `None of the above -- Republicans or Democrats,"' he said. "More people are seeing the Democrats and the Republicans as two sides of the same coin." Brain, 47, who remains a registered Democrat, at least until the local Labor Party gets off the ground, is a former logger and local firefighter who now works as a safety officer for Southern Oregon University. He is also active in the local chapter of the Oregon Public Employees Union. Joining him in the organizing effort is student-teacher Dorothy Swain of Ashland. Last November, Brain and Swain attended the Labor Party's first constitutional convention in Pittsburgh. There, participants hammered out an agenda that Brain says dovetails with the needs and concerns of average people. The Labor Party was formed in 1996 during a gathering of like-minded voters in Cleveland. "This party is about ordinary people in general, not just working people, but retirees, everyone," Brain said. Other so-called third parties don't reflect the same concerns, he said. "For me, it's the agenda," he said of his support of the Labor Party. "This party is closest aligned to what my union looks at and has chosen as its mission." The mission of the local Labor Party organization is to focus first on a "Just Health Care" campaign to provide health care for all Americans. More than 40 million Americans have no health insurance, he said. Other items on the party's agenda include creating a constitutional guarantee of a job offering a living wage, protecting Social Security, launching a fair trade campaign and establishing a bill of rights in the workplace. The problem, Brain said, is that big money interests have bought out both the GOP and the Democrats. "The big corporations, they give money to both sides," he said. "They hedge a little so they are covered no matter who wins." The party's goal is to offer candidates in the 2000 elections, beginning at the local level. "They have to be candidates that are viable," Brain said. "It could be someone for city council or the planning commission." Unions endorsing the Labor Party represent more than one million people nationwide, he said, although noting that actual membership nationally is only about 20,000. To form a chapter, 250 members are required. An organizing committee requires 20 dues-paying members, a requirement which has been met locally, he said. "This is a baby party, a new party," he said. "But we're going to grow. Ordinary people are looking for a voice again. We're going to provide that." The fledgling chapter will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday in Room 330 of Stevenson Union on the Southern Oregon University campus. During that session, the local organizing committee for the new party will be created. For further information, call Brain at 482-6988 or Swain at 482-1705. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA