Portland and the union representing more than 800 city employees will return to mediation Sunday with a wage dispute still unsettled and a strike scheduled to begin just after midnight. Wednesday’s session ended without an agreement, leaving negotiators one scheduled meeting to reach a deal before analysts, emergency coordinators, technology staff and other city employees are due to walk off the job.
State mediators are scheduled to meet with the city and the City of Portland Professional Workers Union at 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 8. The union’s strike notice sets the start at 12:01 a.m. Monday, Nov. 9. A tentative agreement Sunday could allow the union to call off the strike while members consider the terms. The union could also postpone the walkout to give negotiations more time. As of Friday, neither side had announced a settlement or a postponement.
The dispute has narrowed around what workers would receive beyond cost-of-living adjustments. Portland’s published offer includes a 3 percent adjustment retroactive to July 2026, an increase of between 1 and 4 percent in July 2027 and a one-time payment of $1,000 to eligible employees. The union is seeking additional increases to base wages, which would carry into future years. Union leaders say those increases would bring the agreement closer to terms other Portland municipal unions have secured. The city says its offer reflects what it can spend while meeting its obligations to taxpayers.
The union said Mayor Keith Wilson gave the city’s bargaining team no additional authority to move on compensation during Wednesday’s session. Portland confirmed Sunday’s mediation and said it remained committed to reaching an agreement. Its public update gave no indication whether negotiators would arrive Sunday with authority to change the wage offer.
The two sides also disagree over what the union’s proposal would cost. Portland estimates its own offer would add about $9.1 million in spending from July 2026 through December 2027. The city puts the union’s offer at about $19.8 million over the same period, with more than $10 million attributed to additional base-wage increases. The city’s figures include employer costs tied to wages, such as pension and payroll tax contributions.
The union estimates its proposal would add about $9.3 million over two fiscal years, or roughly 7 percent to the total cost of its contract. The estimates use separate calculations, and neither side has published a reconciliation showing how it arrives at a figure so far from the other’s. That leaves negotiators divided over both the size of the raises and what Portland would have to budget to pay for them.
Bargaining began in January under a provision in the union’s first contract, ratified in June 2025 and in effect through December 2027. The agreement set four subjects for further negotiation, including wages, layoffs and recall, hours of work, and pay for standby duty and callbacks. The union declared impasse in late September. Both sides filed final offers with the Oregon Employment Relations Board on Oct. 1, beginning a 30-day cooling-off period. The union reported that 93 percent of those who voted supported authorizing a strike and subsequently gave the city its formal 10-day notice.
Oregon law permits eligible public employees to strike over mandatory bargaining subjects after meeting requirements that include a cooling-off period and advance notice. It also allows a public employer to seek a court order if an imminent strike poses a clear and present danger or threat to public health, safety or welfare. Portland has announced plans to maintain essential services if employees walk out. The city has given no public indication that it has asked a court to intervene.
Some of the employees preparing to strike work behind the scenes in emergency management and 911 operations. Union members help keep the primary and backup 911 centers ready to take calls, coordinate emergency response and support the equipment those operations depend on. The union has warned that equipment repairs could take longer and that managers would have to cover emergency duty shifts. Members also process payroll, permits, grants and public records requests across city departments. Portland says it is planning for essential services to continue if the strike begins.
Sunday’s session gives the city and the union time to settle the wage terms or agree to keep bargaining past the strike deadline. Any tentative agreement would still go to union members for ratification and to the Portland City Council for approval. If the session ends without a deal or a postponement, workers assigned to overnight emergency duties could be among the first to walk out at 12:01 a.m., hours before the union’s planned 8 a.m. picket at City Hall.