Striking Portland workers 'eager to get back to work'
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- Ryan Kenworthy joined other city workers walking a picket line at the Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant Saturday, the third day of a strike by hundreds of workers looking for a new contract.
Kenworthy, who works in sewer repair, echoed the thoughts of many striking workers when he spoke with KOIN 6 News.
"The general consensus among us is that we all have an important job. We're trying to make the city a better place and do our job," he said. "Being out here on the strike line, we're not doing that. We're just waiting."
Another round of negotiations was set for Saturday morning. Kenworthy and others hope it leads to a new deal.
"We're trying to stick together. The strike has been hard on everybody. We all want to go back to work. We all are hoping they can agree on a contract," he said.
Jamie Doscher, the president of Oregon Laborers Local 483, said everyone is grateful for the community support and that morale among the strikers is good.
The strike, she said, "is a safety issue and it's also financial. The city is offering, they say they're offering 12%, which is a lie. It's 5% COLA and 1% increase," Doscher told KOIN 6 News. "I believe we're asking a little bit higher to match the actual COLA, 3-4% raise and 5% COLA."
The community support so far is helpful, she said.
"People are finally realizing how important the work is that our workers do -- PBOT, BES, Parks, Rangers, the safety of parks. These workers are really crucial. It's time to start paying them."
The strikers all want to get back to work, Kenworthy said.
"We're the front line workers that have to go and clean the city up and deal with all the problems of our infrastructure. And we just want a good contract, with cost-of-living, to move forward. We're all eager to go back to work," he said.
KOIN 6 News will have more information later in the day.