PROTEC17 includes 900+ union members/dedicated public servants performing critical work on projects and programs that make our city livable for the greater Portland community. We began contract negotiations in May 2025 yet did not receive the City’s first economic proposal until February 2026. The City is offering too little, too late.

PROTEC17 has partnered to find solutions to big challenges, such as member concessions during COVID and the implementation of a new Charter and City governance structure that brought massive organizational change. Members bargained in good faith for a classification and compensation study that the City has taken more than six years to complete and then extended our contract date by six months to further accommodate. Our contract has expired and we are currently in “status quo." Our patience has run out.

Mayor Wilson and City Administrator Lee: it’s time for you to sharpen your pencils and roll up your sleeves.

The City's most recent offer is not even "status quo," it is a PAY CUT and it is disrespectful. We deserve a fair union contract that provides equitable wages and benefits that reflect the historic inflation that is grossly escalating the cost of living. In a city with some of the most expensive housing, childcare, grocery, and transportation costs in the nation, we are not being offered a contract that prioritizes the respect that all workers are due.

This petition is from PROTEC17 members to unequivocally demand:

1) Support for greater workplace flexibility, based in fact and practice instead of politics and managements' feelings. Remote work and flexible work schedules are shown to increase productivity and efficiency and are in the best interest of workers, the City, AND the community.

2) Go back to the budget drawing board. Find the funding for the FULL Cost of Living Adjustments (COLAs) and preserve jobs. We will not take a pay cut while the City clings to a bloated management strategy and contracts out our body of work at a greater expense to taxpayers.

3) Use the City Core Values to recognize that outdated and incorrect Compensation and Classification systems hurt workers and threaten our City’s resiliency.

You will not bully us into accepting less than fair! We stand in solidarity, united for a fair union contract NOW.