Strike by Portland City Workers Narrowly Averted With Last-Minute Contract Agreement

The District Council of Trade Unions, which represents nearly 1,200 city workers across nearly all Portland bureaus—including accountants, water maintenance workers and building inspectors—called off its threatened strike today, reaching a tentative contract with the city hours before walking off the job.

The union authorized a strike Jan. 21, which would have begun Feb. 10.

The four-year contract increases pay by 2% beginning in July 2024. Each member will receive a $3,000 one-time bonus, and a cost-of-living adjustment of 1.6% will be retroactively applied to 2021. Come July of this year, employees will see a 5% cost-of-living adjustment.

Employees that work night shifts, swing shifts and relief shifts will see a modest raise in hourly pay for those shifts.

“This contract reflects engagement with both employees and community members, and our commitment to being responsive to what we heard,” the mayor and city commissioners said in a joint statement.

The DCTU and the city had failed to agree on a new contract since the previous one expired over a year ago, and union leader Rob Martineau, who works for the Water Bureau, says the sides remained far apart, principally on wages.

“For over 25 months our bargaining team has worked tirelessly to negotiate a strong contract on behalf of six distinct unions, with an amazing diversity of positions, departments and interests,” the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 189 said in a statement. “As we’ve stated in the past, we are greatly disappointed in the way the city conducted itself during bargaining, and our work to correct staffing issues will only ramp up upon completion of this contract.”