Impasse

DCTU Family,

As you are no doubt acutely aware, negotiations for our next contract have been moving at a glacial pace. After a pause in bargaining due to the start of the COVID pandemic, the DCTU bargaining team has been hard at work since July of 2020 to make sure that the City of Portland remains a competitive employer of choice in an economic market that has increasingly recognized the importance of workers’ rights and compensation. We entered mediation on July 8th of this year due to 12 months of tepid progress resulting from Management’s disagreement on the proper valuation of their workforce and a general lack of urgency to prioritize the retention of the people who make Portland work.

This attitude has continued in the months since mediation began, and we are unwilling to entertain it further. Moments ago, we filed paperwork with the State of Oregon Employment Relations Board (ERB) declaring that negotiations had reached impasse.

To date, Management for the City of Portland has not delivered an acceptable economic proposal. We remain open to ongoing discussion. Our intent as the DCTU is to find an agreement that works for both our members and City Council without disruption to the many critical services our membership delivers. Through their agents at the bargaining table, we believe that Portland City Council has been unwilling to recognize the cost of the City’s Labor needs. We implore them to reflect on the value of their workforce should they wish to continue providing services without interruption.

—Rob Martineau, on behalf of the DCTU Bargaining Team

Please join us this Thursday at 6:30 PM for a DCTU Town Hall where we will answer any of your questions or concerns that this action raises. Click here to attend this event.

If you are unable to attend the Town Hall, here is a quick timeline for what the process will look like going forward

  • 12/13/2021 (Today) – Impasse officially declared with the ERB.
  • 12/20/2021 – The DCTU and Management provide their fully-costed Last, Best, Final Offers.
  • 1/9/2022 – This is the earliest date when a strike authorization vote could be held.
  • 1/19/2022 – If a strike authorization vote is held and passed, this is the earliest date when a work stoppage could begin following a mandatory 10-day waiting period.

There will be more information in the days and weeks to come. We will work diligently to keep all our members in the loop through continued emails and worksite visits.

In Community and Solidarity,

Your DCTU Bargaining Team