The city of Portland will lay off dozens of workers under the new budget approved in June, down from earlier plans to cut 127 workers. That layoff total is less than half what was expected earlier this year.
This was the first budget process completed under the new 12-member city council.
Leaders of unions representing city workers were there every step of the way, observing City Council budget discussions and pushing alternatives to cuts. They described the process as chaotic, rushed, and exhausting. But they also gave credit to city council members for paying close attention to how budget decisions would impact city workers and for their willingness to explore new ideas for funding services.
City of Portland Professional Workers (CPPW) was anticipating 28 job losses for workers based on draft budget recommendations released by City Administrator Michael Jordan in late February. Now only 12 workers represented by CPPW are expected to lose their jobs, CPPW President Kari Koch said.
Other city unions saw similar lessening of layoff numbers by the time City Council approved the budget June 18.
In February, leaders of unions representing city workers visited the offices of city councilors and the mayor to urge them to find funding sources and cost saving measures that wouldn’t result in layoffs.
Mayor Keith Wilson’s proposed budget, released May 5, included some of those measures. City Council members then proposed and debated more than 160 amendments to the mayor’s budget. Many of the amendments that passed limited staffing cuts further.
Laborers Local 483 represents around 1,600 city workers, including a unit of 830 recreation workers and a unit of approximately 700 laborers across departments. Initial budget plans called for cutting 18 recreation workers, but the final budget means only one will lose their job. For the laborers unit, 36 workers were on the chopping block. Laborers Local 483 business manager Ryan Sotomayor said around 18 to 25 jobs were still at risk, but layoff numbers weren’t clear as of July 1.
The new city council went to bat for city workers, Sotomayor said. Energized by a new pro-labor city council, unions were also more active in their budget advocacy.
Sotomayor said he was cautiously optimistic about how future budget cycles will go.
“I’m still a little bit worried about the state level, and obviously the federal level is bonkers, but City Council, for the first time in my lifetime, actually feels representative in a way that is easily articulated,” Sotomayor said, listing examples like Councilor Mitch Green’s office hours and Councilor Tiffany Koyama Lane’s constituent coffees.
Northwest Oregon Labor Council executive secretary Laurie Wimmer said she and union leaders attended the city council’s lengthy budget meetings, both to hold city councilors accountable and to say thank you.
“Our very presence is a reminder that we’re watching and hoping that those values are translated into what they produce. But also because this is a pro-labor city council, for the most part, we were there in solidarity with them because we knew what a long slog it was going to be,” Wimmer said.
Significant layoffs were expected in Portland Permitting and Development, but those were largely avoided — at least for the next few months. More layoffs may come in the fall if revenue doesn’t increase.
“That was really good for us, but it could be just kicking the can down the road,” said Mark Hinkle, chief negotiator for the District Council of Trade Unions, which includes five unions representing more than 200 skilled trades workers who work for the city.
Layoffs in the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) were also reduced, but those jobs may not be safe for long. PBOT had anticipated $11 million in funding under a state transportation funding package lawmakers were working on. But legislators failed to pass a transportation funding bill before the session ended. Without that funding, PBOT will likely lay off more than 50 workers. Gov. Tina Kotek indicated that she may call a special session this year to address transportation funding.
“I wish we could have saved more jobs. I wish that this was a layoff-free budget,” PROTEC17 research director Elliot Levin said. “But I think we ended up in a better place than we started.”
