Portland city workers avert strike after reaching tentative agreement

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — After Portland city workers represented by a union voted “overwhelmingly” to authorize a strike on Thursday, the union now says they have reached a tentative agreement on their first contract with the city.

The City of Portland Professional Workers Union (CPPW), which represents 800 city workers in nearly every bureau, had been in negotiations with the city for a contract for over a year for layoff protections, compensation, as well as a new remote work policy.

The union said their workers “run grants and contracts, manage payroll, handle emergency and crisis communications, conduct public outreach, analyze budgets, and keep the city in compliance with local, state, and federal regulations.”

With 88% of its members voting, 92% of CPPW workers voted in favor of authorizing to strike after an impasse in negotiations earlier this month.

This prompted 11 hours of mediation Thursday night, culminating in a Friday morning announcement by both the City and CPPW stating they reached a tentative agreement on CPPW's first contract.

Should the city and the union have failed to reach a contract settlement, the strike would have happened as early as June 9.

CPPW says they plan to release an overview of the tentative agreement next week.