Uniformed park rangers at the City of Portland learned May 6 the results of their union election. Want to guess what the tally was? Unanimous: 14-0. Which is exactly what rangers told Portland Mayor Charlie Hales, to his face, when they asked him in March 2013 to voluntarily recognize their choice to join Laborers Local 483. Hales declined to do that, and instead, told them to request a state-administered secret ballot election. After they did that, the City Attorney’s office, which answers to Hales, spent 10 months pursuing legal objections. The City lost, then appealed, then lost again and was ordered to get on with the election. The rangers are just glad to have it resolved.
“It’s been a long process, and each and every one of us has stepped up to make sure this happened,” said park ranger Vicente Harrison. “Every time we step in the parks, families appreciate our presence, so I think Portlanders would be very happy to hear we have representation and we can go to our job every day feeling appreciated.”
Seven new rangers have been hired in the last month, bringing the unit to about 23 total. They’ll be covered under the City’s contract with the seven-union coalition known as the District Council of Trade Unions (DCTU). For a time, rangers thought they might finally become union members just in time to go on strike with DCTU, which had trouble getting a new contract. But DCTU and the City came to terms, and ratified a new contract in April.
Once the Employment Relations Board certifies the election results May 19, Local 483 will seek to bargain with the City over specific terms covering the rangers.
Harrison said rangers’ bargaining priorities include having more say over safety procedures dealing with intoxicated individuals, and getting wage increases to bring their pay closer to that of other urban rangers. Portland pays rangers $12 to $17 an hour, compared to $19 to $22 an hour at Metro and the City of Seattle, Harrison said.
“Our voice has been heard clear,” Harrison said. “We want to be treated fairly.”
