FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nov. 5, 2026
PORTLAND, Ore. – City workers represented by the City of Portland Professional Workers Union (CPPW) are prepared to strike Monday, Nov. 9 after City leadership again failed to reach an agreement at the Nov. 4 bargaining session. CPPW had notified the City of its intent to strike in response to leadership’s failure to settle a fair contract after bargaining for 10 months. An additional session with state mediators is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 8.
The strike follows a 93% authorization vote by CPPW members. The 800-member union is at odds with the City over workers’ demands for fair compensation, equitable wage increases, stability, and respect on the job.
“Our members have showed up for this City through everything it has asked of them—through Covid, through financial crises, and the charter transition—and they are not asking for anything more than a fair contract and parity with our union sibilings,” said Kari Koch, CPPW Union President. “We would prefer to be at work providing the services Portlanders depend on, but there was no movement from the City in the Nov 4 session to avert the strike.”
CPPW is an independent union representing analysts, coordinators, administrative specialists, financial analysts, technology business representatives, and other essential positions across every bureau and office at the City. These members keep City services running.
Service to community
The strike will affect city services, especially emergency management. Any CPPW members who are on call to respond to emergencies will go on strike at 12:01 a.m. on Monday, November 9. Many CPPW members serve as emergency coordinators and responders for the City of Portland. When something breaks, they are the ones who find the fix. They also provide critical support to emergency units ensuring that 911, police, fire, PBOT, Water, and other departments have what they need to respond.
“I’m responsible for keeping the 9-1-1 operations floor and our backup 9-1-1 center ready to take calls,” said Mike Grimm, Emergency Management Coordinator and CPPW member. “If a strike happens, equipment that breaks down would take longer to get repaired.” Critical delays matter when it comes to emergency response. Like Grimm, many CPPW members handle operations for bureaus like 9-1-1 that must operate 24/7.
“At the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management, five of our nine Duty Officers are CPPW members,” said Glenn Devitt, Duty Officer & Community Resilience Coordinator and CPPW member. “If we walk off the job, managers would have to cover every shift while also coordinating our strike response. It would also interrupt ongoing first responder training for a cohort of 50 native Spanish-speaking volunteers, Portland students who have spent months preparing for the opportunity.” Like Devitt, many CPPW members help the city respond to emergencies by organizing and training community members, or by running mandatory trainings that keep thousands of city workers safe on the job and the public safe in their communities.
Long-term costs
Financial figures the union submitted to the state Oct. 1 show an estimated $9.3 million increase (~7%) in the total cost of their contract over two fiscal years, on par with every other union contract at the City that factors in wage growth. The union’s costing is also similar to what the City claimed in their state filings was available for this contract (estimated at $9 million).
“On average, our members have served Portland for 10 years. The City can pay to keep these experienced workers or pay again and again to try and replace them,” reminds Koch. “Staff turnover and contracting out is the expensive choice, and it’s the one the City is making by refusing to settle.”
Why the City can’t wait
City workers are doing their best to serve Portland despite understaffing, constant reorganizations, and low morale. The City has undergone a complete organizational restructuring, along with budget cuts, layoffs, and realignments in recent years.
“The City has restructured, cut, and laid off staff, and our members have had to absorb all of it,” said Koch. “There will never be a perfect budget year. Fair pay is how you keep the people who hold this City together, and the City can’t afford to wait.”
CPPW urges the City to return to the table with a serious proposal before Nov. 9.
In addition to 9-1-1 operations support and emergency response coordination, CPPW members provide essential services such as:
- Processing payroll for 8,000 City workers
- Maintenance and emergency coordination in all public works and public safety bureaus
- Releasing and processing millions of dollars in grants and contracts to local business and community organizations
- Emergency and crisis communications
- Processing licenses and permits for programs like cannabis and liquor
- On-call response for victims of serious crimes like human trafficking
- Keeping the City in compliance with local, state, and federal rules including Civil Rights Title VI and ADA Title II
- Handling public records requests for community members and media on legal deadlines
- Maintaining the City’s vehicle fleet
Background
The City of Portland Professional Workers Union (CPPW) represents roughly 800 workers across every office and bureau in the City. Formed in 2023, CPPW is one of the City’s newest unions, representing the City’s administrative specialists, analysts, coordinators, financial analysts, multimedia specialists, and technology business representatives.
The City of Portland has been in active bargaining with CPPW for ten months on a reopener, an agreement in the June 2025 contract to renegotiate certain articles in January 2026. Priorities for CPPW members at the bargaining table include real cost-of-living adjustments (COLA), standard wage increases, and layoff protections on par with other union contracts. CPPW has been bargaining with the City since January. They declared impasse in late September and submitted final offers to the state on Oct. 1, kicking off a 30-day cooling off period which has now expired. Last week, CPPW issued a formal 10-day strike notice for Nov. 9, prompting sessions with state mediators scheduled for Nov. 4 and Nov. 8.
Media contact
Contact: Kari Koch, CPPW President, 580-716-4729 (cell), president@cppwunion.org
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