Portland City Trade Unions To Strike February 10th

Portland, Oregon – After two years of negotiations, city workers in Portland, Oregon, following a rally have authorized a strike for Thursday, February 10. On January 20, workers overwhelmingly voted to strike, which would be their first since 2001 unless a tentative contract settlement is reached during ongoing negotiations with a mediator.

The District Council of Trade Unions (DCTU), an alliance of six trade unions—AFSCME Local 189, IBEW Local 48, Operating Engineers Local 701, Machinists District Lodge 24, Plumbers Local 290, and Painters and Allied Trades District Council 5—declared an impasse on December 20 following the city’s “last, best, and final” offer.

Around 1100 workers, including maintenance workers, clerical staff, and mechanics, representing 16% of the city’s workforce, overwhelmingly rejected the city’s proposal of a one-time bonus of $3,000 in lieu of wage increases of 2% in the first and second years of the contract, as well as longevity increases that are significantly less than the rate of inflation.

According to Northwest Labor Press, the union agreed to a 1.6 percent cost-of-living adjustment retroactive to July 1, 2021, and another 1 to 5% on July 1 this year and next year, but even a 2% increase would result in a loss of real wages, given last year’s inflation rate of 7%.

In May 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and with the city’s general fund facing a loss of $75 million to $100 million, the DCTU signed a Letter of Agreement requiring members to take eight furlough days by October of that year and defer a 2.9 percent cost-of-living increase for six months to January 1, 2021.

Two additional unions representing an additional 1500 city employees signed amendments to that agreement.
The unions contended that furlough days taken prior to July 25 would qualify for enhanced unemployment benefits under the federal CARES Act.

The strike would affect a number of city departments, including Development Services, Transportation, and Housing, as well as the Water Bureau, which employs 575 people.

Multnomah County, which includes Portland, has the highest number of reported cases and deaths in the state at the moment. Since the pandemic began, the county has registered approximately 104 thousand COVID-19 cases and nearly a thousand deaths. However, as highlighted on the AFSCME’s website, the proposed contract does not include any worker protections. This is entirely consistent with the Democratic Party’s herd immunity policies, which advocate for the reopening of schools and businesses under the banner of “living with the virus.”

The city of Portland’s last strike occurred in 2001 and lasted only 45 minutes before the union called it off with a tentative agreement. In 2014, workers were on the verge of voting to strike until the union struck a last-minute deal.