The election news has drowned out a story that could reach Portlanders before any of the ballot results do. At 12:01 a.m. on Monday, November 9, about 800 City of Portland workers could go on strike. They include analysts, coordinators, victim advocates, emergency management staff, and the people who run payroll for the rest of the city.
Mike sits down with Kari Koch, president of the City of Portland Professional Workers Union (CPPW). Volunteers organized the independent union in 2023, without help from a big international union, and its members were mostly remote and hybrid workers spread across every bureau. CPPW signed its first contract in June 2025. The wage articles were reopened this year, and ten months of bargaining, then impasse, then mediation have left the two sides far apart.
In this episode:
Who CPPW represents, the workers Kari calls “the glue that holds the city together”: Summer in the parks, the Waterfront Park engagement, emergency coordination, city communications, and payroll for 8,000 employees
Kari’s view of Portland’s new form of government: a council that’s more representative, but management positions that have grown 38% in six years while frontline staff grew 7%
What happens when the city contracts work out: a $750,000 classification study that workers had to redo, and a contractor the city was suing while it considered hiring them again
The summer “realignment,” which Kari describes as a cut exercise that ended with some laid-off workers being brought back
CPPW’s council scorecard, and how some incumbents’ questionnaire answers didn’t match their votes
What’s on the table: the union is asking for about 7% over two years (COLAs, small wage increases, and longevity pay), and the mayor has capped it at 3%
What a strike would mean for Portlanders: delays in garbage response, water main and sewer emergencies, public records requests, and city payroll
What a strike means for the workers, from victim advocates who are on call around the clock to staff walking off jobs they care about
Also this week: Trash news correspondent Elinor Jones covers Heidi Klum’s severed-hand costume, the truth about historical gravy boats, Martha Stewart’s Halloween misfire, and Tonya Harding’s return to the ice. Check out Elinor Jones at the Trash Report in the Portland Mercury!
Kari’s ask for help:
Donate to CPPW’s member hardship fund!
Call 311, ask for the Mayor’s Office, and leave a message asking the city to settle the contract
Join the picket line at City Hall at 9 a.m. on November 9 if no deal is reached
Next week: The Season 3 finale 🎉, with a season wrap-up and analysis of the election results.
Thanks to our season sponsor, Corbett Hill Wellness Center. Interested in sponsoring next season? Reach out.
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