Category: Union Organizing

Class Comp Study Resources

The consultant running the study, Evergreen, is asking you to fill out a Job Assessment Tool (JAT!) and a Virtual Survey – please do both before July 19th

Update: We’ve just heard that the deadline has been extended to July 31, 2024!

Want a visual? Access the recording of the CPPW Info Session on 7/10/24.

Important Distinction: Class Spec vs Position Description

Classification Specification:
In the JAT, the consultants provide you with a link to your classification specification and ask you to inform them about which tasks from the document you do or don’t do.

Find your class spec on the City website here. Broad, right? This is not enough information to describe your work.

Position Description (PD):
CPPW is encouraging every member to use their Position Description to describe their work and after filling out the JAT, email your Position Description to the consultants directly at jat1@consultevergreen.com.

How to find your PD?

  1. The PD may be the language used in the recruitment for your current position on GovernmentJobs.
  2. You might have written your PD if you have been in your current position since the class comp study of 2018/2019.
  3. Email your HRBP and ask “Can you send me my Position Description, please”.
  4. If you can’t find it – this is the moment to write your own using the tools below.

How to Write a Position Description: 

Use these tools and worksheet to create a robust and detailed description of your particular work. Be sure to focus on the specifics of what you do and the expertise that is required by your work.

Do not focus on what you *might* do or what you *could* do, but just what you actually do.

  1. Position Description Instructions
  2. Position Description Worksheet
  3. Position Description Form
  4. Task Statement Examples
  5. Action Statement Examples

Become A Member!

Join The Union

Membership is the only thing that makes a union a Union!

By law, the City of Portland Professional Workers Union must represent and advocate all persons in our bargaining unit. However, only members in good standing receive all the benefits of the union. To become a member in good standing you must complete the form confirming your membership in the union.

Membership rights and duties include:

  • Contributing dues at an amount agreed upon by the membership.
  • Having a voice through participation in union decision making, voting on the contract and officers.
  • Representing the union as an officer, steward, serving on committees.

Most importantly, membership matters. The more people who become members, the stronger our union is and the more likely we will be to win a powerful contract with fair wages, working conditions, and strong protections for all of us.

Didn’t I Already Sign A Card?

Many of  us signed cards before our May election. Those were the petition to have an election to establish the CPPW as your union, which we of course, won overwhelmingly. Those petition cards do not count as a membership card, so we are back to starting from the beginning and signing you all up as members.

Note that signing the cards will obligate one to pay dues once those are established. By becoming a member you will have input on the decision on how much those dues will be. (Currently there are no dues.)

July Membership Meeting

All union members are encouraged to attend the July CPPW General Membership Meeting.

Thursday, July 27
5:30-7:30pm
The Portland Building, Room 108

Zoom link will be available –
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89351943214?pwd=TDAzRWl3NUZraFJMeTlsc3hjS0tDdz09

Meeting ID: 893 5194 3214
Passcode: 322438

On the agenda:

Officer Election discussion
Building the Bargaining Team
Fundraising!
Breakouts for: Stewards, Bargaining Committee, and Admin/Communications Team

VICTORY! 81% Vote in Favor!

CPPW organizers celebrate filing their petition in April, 2023. L to R, Jeff Winkler, Kurt Abe, E Specht, Ocean Eale (back), Van Le, Connor Anderson

The CPPW was victorious in its election to represent the over 700 professional workers of the City of Portland! The result was 306 for and 68 against. The 385 total ballots represented a 52% turnout of the 712 workers who were allowed to participate in the election under our Memorandum of Understanding with the City. Seven ballots were spoiled (no signature) and four ballots are under dispute with the City.  This vote reflects 81.8% support for unionization.

“City workers came out strong to say that we want a voice at the table,” said Kari Koch, CPPW Organizing Committee President. “CPPW members hold critical jobs in the city. We keep programs running, turn raw data into meaningful policy options, balance the books, and are helping guide Portland through the charter reform transitions. Our members work hard for the City and now are organizing for the respect we deserve.”

CPPW’s victory makes it the second largest independent union in the state of Oregon after the farmworker union Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (PCUN) and the ninth largest public sector independent union in the nation.

“This is a historic day for our members and for Portland,” said CPPW Organizing Committee Secretary Robert Pineda. “When budgets have tightened in the past, as they inevitably do, it’s been our members who’ve felt the sting of budget cuts, furloughs, and layoffs first. While our unionized coworkers got the regular salary increases they deserved, and their rightful seat at the table to negotiate how best to deal with budget cuts, our members were lucky if they got two percent annual performance raises and are often the first ones on the chopping block. No more.

Election Information

Union Vote is Here!

We have been working hard to build this union and the next big step is here – the union election.

The election will be held by confidential mailed ballot and will ask if you want to be represented by City of Portland Professional Workers Union (CPPW). A Yes vote is a vote to have a voice on issues that affect our lives at work and at home!

Continue reading Election Information