SEASIDE — There was surprisingly little floor debate on most of the 36 resolutions that delegates considered over three days at the 50th convention of the Oregon AFL-CIO.

The exceptions were immigration reform and drug testing.

The lengthiest discussion occurred when members of the Law and Legislation Committee recommended nonconcurrence on Resolution No. 8 — “Undocumented Workers.”

Submitted by the Oregon Machinists Council, the resolution called for securing U.S. borders to stop the inflow of illegal immigrants and for the AFL-CIO to oppose any attempts by Congress to weaken U.S. immigration laws or grant amnesty to undocumented workers.

“This is not anti-immigration, it’s anti-illegal immigration. That’s the bottom line,” said Bob Frazier, a delegate from Woodworkers Local 246, speaking in favor of the resolution.

Jamie Partridge, a delegate from the National Association of Letter Carriers, speaking in support of non-concurrence, said the meat of the resolution runs counter to the policy of the national AFL-CIO. “The immigration policy is broken,” Partridge said. “But it’s workers who get hurt. It doesn’t hurt employers.”

In the end, delegates voted 125-57 for non-concurrence, thus killing the resolution.

Resolution 18 (see Law and Legislation Committee report), calling for comprehensive immigration reform, also was discussed at length before passing 110-68.

A resolution to protect workers who are taking legally-prescribed medications (including medical marijuana) from employer-imposed discipline was referred back to the Executive Board.

Mike Sullivan of the Steelworkers Union said workers who are not impaired but are taking legally-prescribed medications are being punished by employers.

Building trades unions opposed the resolution. “If you drop a tool from the fourth floor of a building, the person at the bottom doesn’t care if it’s dropped by someone impaired by legal or illegal drugs,” said Keith Wright, business manager of Bricklayers Local 1.