Teachers at Ethos Music Center in North Portland voted 14-9 to join American Federation of Musicians Local 99 on April 24.
Local 99 Secretary-Treasurer Mont Chris Hubbard says that makes it only the second music school in the nation to unionize. The other is Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, where staff joined American Federation of Teachers and reached a first union contract in 2022.
Hubbard said the union campaign at Ethos was in part a response to recent instability and funding problems.
Located at 2 N Killingsworth St, Ethos is a non-profit children’s music school that offers sliding scale music lessons. Instructors are very part-time, and teach just one to 11 hours a week.
