Oregonians won't vote this fall after all on whether to let public employees opt out of paying union dues, after the sponsor of a proposed "right to work" measure dropped her effort this week.

Jill Gibson, a Portland attorney who was the initiative's chief petitioner, said Friday that a lengthy dispute over the ballot title language left supporters without time to gather enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot.

Backers of a ballot initiative aren't allowed to gather signatures until a measure's title has been settled. That didn't happen for Gibson's proposal until late April -- leaving proponents a little more than two months to collect and hand in 88,184 valid signatures before a July 8 deadline.

"We will have to bring this back another day," Gibson said.

Under state law, unions can negotiate contracts that require all employees covered by the contract to pay dues or fees, even if they choose not to join the union. Gibson's ballot measure would have made those union fees voluntary for non-members.

The measure loomed as one more battle between the business community and Oregon's labor unions, following a deeply contentious proposal from unions to raise $3 billion a year in new corporate taxes.

Gibson disagreed with the original ballot title, written by a lawyer in the attorney general's office. She filed an appeal at the Oregon Supreme Court in January.

"I felt the ballot title only focused on what could be considered the negative effects of the measure and did not discuss the positive effects of the measure," Gibson said. "The measure's balanced. It balances the rights of employees with the rights of unions."

After the attorney general's office rewrote the ballot title to reflect a judgment by the Supreme Court, Gibson said it was much better. No one challenged the new title, but it was too late for supporters to gather the necessary signatures. Gibson withdrew the measure Tuesday.

Heather Conroy, executive director of Service Employees International Union Local 503, welcomed Gibson's decision.

"We're glad to see that it will not be on the ballot, even though time and again we've seen voters reject these types of measures," Conroy said, adding that a right to work measure last failed in 2008. "It's been long established in Oregon we don't accept free riders."

The initiative's supporters raised more than $26,000, mostly from Freres Lumber Co in Lyons and Seneca Jones Timber Company, according to state campaign finance data.

Gibson said she plans to file the same ballot initiative later, and she hopes the attorney general's office will assign the same ballot title approved by the Supreme Court.

"We don't think public employees should be forced to pay a union in order to keep their job," Gibson said.

-- Hillary Borrud

503-294-4034; @hborrud