Portland Community College faculty and staff commence historic strike over wages

Rain did not deter hundreds of Portland Community College faculty, staff and students who rallied across four Portland-area campuses Wednesday morning to show support for a historic strike at the state’s largest higher education institution.

At the Cascade campus in North Portland, more than 300 hundred people, clad in raincoats and rain boots, came out to support PCC’s faculty and classified unions. They

carried signs that read “living wage now” and “COLAs not cuts,” chanted messages of solidarity and marched across the campus grounds.

PCC and its two unions have been negotiating over compensation and other benefits for nearly a year. But all sides have been stuck for months on salary increases and how much the college has to spare for such increases.

Neither union has gone on strike before. This is the first strike to occur among any of the state’s 17 community colleges.

“We’re ready to strike for as long as we need to in order to get a fair deal,” said Ben Cushing, president of PCC’s Federation of Faculty and Academic Professionals. “Our members are really resolved. People are not in the mood to settle for a contract that’s below the cost of inflation.”

No matter how long the strike lasts, it will surely be disruptive to the more than 30,000 students who study at PCC.

PCC announced early Wednesday that it will operate remotely during the strike and that some classes will be impacted.

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“While we are disappointed in these developments, Portland Community College remains committed to reaching agreements and will continue meeting with union leadership in good faith,” said PCC President Adrien Bennings in a statement. “Our focus is a settlement that is fair and sustainable, one that supports our employees while protecting the long-term stability of the college and our ability to serve students.”

Negotiations have been strained for months.

PCCFFAP and PCC’s Federation of Classified Employees declared an impasse on Jan. 30. About three weeks later, both unions’ members overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike.

PCCFFAP represents teaching faculty and other academic staff. It has around 1,600 members. PCCFCE includes close to 700 college support workers like administrative assistants, front desk clerks, IT staff, custodians and public safety officers.

Both unions are demanding wage bumps that keep up with yearly inflation.

But PCC officials have said the college must weigh the needs of its faculty and staff with the increasing economic uncertainties surrounding the institution, including declining enrollment forecasts and a projected budget deficit of about $37 million over the next two years.

Students who showed up at the Cascade campus rally said they support their teachers, despite the impacts to their classes.

“We’re out here because administration has been extremely reactionary and it’s been really disheartening for a lot of the students,” said PCC student Mando Larson. “All the unionized workers are asking for is fair pay.”

The two unions are specifically bargaining over the final two years of separate four-year contracts. All sides have shown some movement on wages since February’s last, best and final offers, but they are still far from an agreement.

The faculty union recently moved their salary proposals down from a more than 8% increase to 6%. Leaders from the classified union say they also lowered their wage proposals.

On Tuesday, PCC offered a 4% bump over two years to both unions. That’s up from a previous offer of less than 1%.

That offer was not enough for both unions to avert a strike. And it’s not enough for Rye Weston, a groundskeeper at Cascade who is a part of the classified staff union. They said they can’t afford a car on the wages they get paid now.

“I get up at 3:30 a.m. to take the bus here just so I can have a job,” said Weston, who rallied Wednesday morning. “It’d be nice to be paid more.”

The college had previously said its offer was dependent on possible cuts to statewide education funding. Gov. Tina Kotek said late last month that cuts to the state’s higher education institutions were off the table.

PCC’s original wage proposals were built around the uncertainty of those cuts, said Howard Croom, associate vice president of people strategy, equity and culture at PCC.

“PCC committed to going a bit further if cuts were not coming and we followed through on that,” Croom said in an interview Wednesday afternoon. “But the institution’s overall financial state has not changed. It did not create new money for PCC.”

The strike comes at a precarious time for faculty and students. Final exams for PCC’s winter term begin next week.

It’s unclear how long the strike could go on. The next negotiation session between the unions and PCC is currently scheduled for Monday. But all sides have signaled an appetite to come to the table again later this week.