City of Portland could be inching toward labor disputes

Union contracts representing nearly 1,300 City of Portland workers expire Dec. 31, on the eve of the city’s shift to a whole new leadership structure.

In the new year, city workers will face a new mayor and 12-member city council, along with a looming budget shortfall. 

Three groups of City of Portland workers have been in bargaining for more than six months. Two of them have moved to mediation. One has said they may go on strike next year.

In October, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler directed city bureaus (except public safety bureaus) to prepare budgets with at least a 5% cut for the fiscal year that starts July 1, 2025. 

AFSCME Local 189

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 189 and the city passed the legally required 150 days of bargaining on Oct. 11 and agreed to move to mediation. The first mediation session is scheduled for Dec. 12. 

Local 189, which represents almost 1,100 workers, is currently a party to the city’s contract with the multi-union District Council of Trade Unions (DCTU). Local 189 members voted to withdraw from the DCTU in 2022, so the union is negotiating a separate contract. 

City leaders say the city is broke during every negotiation, Local 189 secretary-treasurer Chris Richard told the Labor Press. “This year, it’s ‘We’re super broke,’” Richard said.

Richard also said city negotiators have a past pattern of not reaching agreement until the existing contract has expired and the union has taken steps toward a strike.

“But membership has made it very clear to all of us that they do not want to play the games with the city anymore,” Richard said. “We want a contract done as quickly as possible. So that means we will be moving in the strike direction much more rapidly than ever before.”

Richard said Local 189 workers could strike as soon as February.

Local 189 held two “practice pickets” this fall. The current DCTU bargaining agreement says there will be no picketing, strikes, or lockouts for the duration of the agreement. Portland City Council was scheduled to consider filing an unfair labor practice complaint against Local 189 on Dec. 4, after this issue went to press.

Local 189 members make an average of $87,251 a year, according to the city. But bargaining team member Chris Flanary said some workers are paid less than others who do the same job but are in a different department or represented by a different union. The union is seeking raises to bring those lower paid workers up to parity. 

DCTU

The District Council of Trade Unions (DCTU) is a coalition of five unions that negotiates together for roughly 200 workers — roughly 85 in IBEW Local 48, 60 in Machinists District Lodge W24, 30 in Operating Engineers Local 701, 14 in Plumbers Local 290, and seven from the Painters District Council 5.

On average, DCTU-represented workers make $101,625, according to the city.

Mark Hinkle, the DCTU’s chief negotiator and a business representative for IBEW Local 48, said drawn-out negotiations are standard operating procedure for the city, echoing Local 189’s Chris Richard.

Hinkle said the city’s bargaining team told the DCTU in September that any additional money going to the contract would result in cuts elsewhere in the city. At that point, the city and DCTU jointly requested the help of a state mediator.

The five unions in the council negotiate most of the contract together, but each union makes its own proposal for wages. 

CPPW

City of Portland Professional Workers (CPPW), the newest union of city workers, has been working toward a first contract since June 2023, when members voted to unionize. The union and city haven’t moved to mediation yet. 

“While we’re still making progress at the table, we are going to stay at the table and keep trying to settle as much as we can,” said CPPW President Kari Koch.

So far, the city has agreed to maintain current healthcare benefits and retirement contributions, and implement new discipline and grievance procedures.

Koch said that prior to unionizing, the 750 workers now in CPPW had less job security than other city employees.

“We were always the first to cut. So we were the ones who got zero wage increases during COVID. We were the ones who were the easiest to fire. And our members have told us that whatever the economics look like, we want it to be clear and we want it to be consistent,” Koch said.

CPPW is seeking a 4% across-the-board raise next fiscal year, a 5% raise the following year, and then the adoption of a wage step system. The current average earnings for CPPW members is $102,305, according to the city.

The city is currently conducting a study of how different positions are classified and compensated. The study will review positions represented by CPPW and other unions, so the wage step system would be built using that study’s findings.

Koch said the existing classifications are too broad. CPPW represents administrative specialists, analysts, coordinators, and other classifications.

CPPW and AFSCME want to retain members’ right to work from home, but work location isn’t a mandatory subject of bargaining, so that’s harder to secure, union leaders said.