Bargaining Updates

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Bargaining Session #1, January 16th, 2026: Our union and management set up ground rules and we made proposals on seven articles to management.

Bargaining Session #2, February 11th, 2026: Our union proposed changes to four articles while management made proposals on 14 articles.

Bargaining Session #3, March 5th, 2026: All articles that have proposed changes are open, the rest of bargaining will be negotiating the changes in these articles only.

Bargaining Session #4, March 17th, 2026: Members joined the bargaining team to present an action showing what we need out of our contract.

Bargaining Session #5, April 8th, 2026: Today we were joined by 6 members who have a combined 100+ years of service in our bargaining unit to talk about why longevity pay is a necessary part of a fair contract. Unfortunately the wage counter we got from management right after this still did not include longevity pay.

Bargaining Session #6, May 8th, 2026: We reached a tentative agreement on a key union rights issue, with two more articles close to agreement. Eleven articles remained open, all in management’s court. To focus on the issues members told us mattered most, we withdrew our proposal to shorten probationary periods, dropped our request for a one-time bonus for employees with ten or more years of service, and narrowed our reclassification and telework proposals.

Bargaining Session #7, May 13th, 2026: Two more agreements reached — removing the limit on union stewards, and setting terms for employees who return to work after retiring from PERS. Nine articles remained open. We reduced our cost-of-living ask for all three years, shortened our layoff notice proposal, scaled back our HSA/HRA request, and dropped our telework proposal. Management told us plainly they were “not interested in any form of longevity pay. Full stop.” The next evening we rallied outside City Hall for a fair contract.

Bargaining Session Cancelled, May 27th, 2026: The eighth bargaining session, set for May 27th, did not occur. It was cancelled due to a medical emergency for our chief negotiator, and we sought to reschedule before June 15th.

Staff Transition and June 15th Cancellation, June 11th, 2026: Our Oregon AFSCME rep and chief negotiator stepped down, with a new rep taking over the territory and Oregon AFSCME’s Organizing Program Manager joining our team as chief negotiator. Management cancelled the June 15th bargaining session. We requested mediation from the state Employment Relations Board for the remainder of negotiations, with the first mediation session set for June 29th.

Union Action at City Council, June 15th, 2026: With the bargaining session cancelled, we took our case to the City’s ultimate authority. More than thirty members, joined by friends and family, overfilled the council chambers in 95-degree weather. Four speakers addressed the council on the status of bargaining, on longevity and hazard pay, and on the value of the work our members do.

Mediation Session #1, June 29th, 2026: Our first session with the state mediator. All nine open articles were in management’s court. Management moved slightly on inclement weather leave and the comp time bank, but held firm against longevity pay, additional steps, and a meaningful cost-of-living adjustment. We moved substantially: we cut our longevity pay proposal roughly in half, sharply reduced our hazard pay proposal, lowered our comp time bank request, dropped our request for reduced downtown employee parking fees, and agreed to management’s position limiting bumping and recall rights to within the same department. Management rejected both of our packages, leaving us where we started the day.

Mediation Session #2, July 7th, 2026: Management issued a “Last, Best, and Final” package offer with a deadline attached, while continuing to reject longevity pay and additional steps. Our executive board met to weigh next steps, skeptical that this was truly management’s final position.

Union Bargaining Proposal, July 20th, 2026: We sent management a formal written bargaining proposal, which remained our binding official position through the rest of negotiations. We withdrew our proposal for regular standing labor-management meetings, cut our request for new pay steps from two down to one, lowered our cost-of-living ask again, and reduced longevity pay a second time — eliminating the ten-year eligibility tier entirely, so that employees with ten to fourteen years of service would receive nothing, and cutting what a twenty-five-year employee would receive by nearly half.

Union Mediation Proposal, August 14th, 2026: We sent management a mediation package covering the remaining open articles. It was non-binding and all-or-nothing: if management rejected any part of it, the entire package fell and our official July 20th bargaining proposal stood.

In that package we offered real movement. We accepted management’s terms on hours of work. We matched their own cost-of-living numbers in the first two years, leaving only the third year in dispute. We agreed to their delayed change to the health insurance premium split. And we dropped longevity pay entirely — the issue we had brought members to the bargaining table and to City Council to defend — proposing in its place a deferred compensation match closely mirroring one management itself had put forward in May, before withdrawing it.

We did not move on Hazard Pay or on a new Step 7.

Management rejected the package. Because it was all-or-nothing, every concession in it fell away with it, and our binding proposal — including the current 93/7 health insurance premium split — remained our official position.

Strike Authorization Vote Announced, August 17th, 2026: After months of bargaining and weeks of silence from the City’s team, we announced a strike authorization vote, open August 24th through 28th to all dues-paying members.

Strike Authorization Vote Results, August 28th, 2026: 89% of eligible members cast a ballot, and 90.2% voted yes — giving the bargaining team authority to call a strike if one becomes necessary.

Union Declares Impasse, September 1st, 2026: Our bargaining team declared impasse to the City at 8:05 a.m., citing management’s lack of meaningful counter-proposals and their disinterest in the last five dates we proposed to meet and bargain.

Mediation Session, September 10th, 2026: We met virtually with the state mediator and City management for a half-day session. Management told us they would not offer anything new until we submitted yet another proposal, despite our having made the last two. At the end of the session, management submitted a non-binding four-year “supposal” with a slightly higher cost-of-living total than their June offer, plus a deferred compensation contribution conditioned on employees matching it. They continue to show no interest in Step 7 or Hazard Pay. We remain committed to the proposal we submitted to the Employment Relations Board for costing on September 8th.

Next Bargaining Session: Friday, September 25th, 2026, in person.