Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Portland

Even Portland’s Model Transit System Has Labor Disputes

Rail~volution's participants were treated to a whole series of workshops titled "Portland: How Did We Do It?" on the last day of the four-day conference. The sessions touted Portland's excellence on everything from regional partnerships to bike innovations to Metro. But outside the conference, just as TriMet's General Manager took the stage, dozens of picketing transit union members reminded us that all is not rosy in Portland transit-land.

TriMet employees have been working without a contract for nearly a year. ##http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/10/trimet_employees_protest_at_ra.html##The Oregonian##
TriMet employees have been working without a contract for nearly a year. ##http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/10/trimet_employees_protest_at_ra.html##The Oregonian##

Contract negotiations between TriMet and the union are stalled, nearly a year after the previous contract expired. President Jonathan Hunt said that binding arbitration with TriMet has yielded nothing but impasses and retaliation. The union filed an unfair labor practice complaint last month with the state Employment Relations Board, charging that TriMet was bargaining in bad faith.

Now that TriMet is telling workers and retirees they'll have to pay their own health insurance, Hunt wants to take action. He said his members have already made big sacrifices to keep the health care and it shouldn't be taken away. "We took wage freezes; we took rollbacks," he said.

But the union won’t go on strike, Hunt said, because the consequences for riders would be too severe. “When we walk, everybody walks.” (In any case, it's against Oregon law for them to strike.)

This was new to me: Hunt said the transit sector faces higher rates of disability than any other industry. "People don't recognize," he said, "that a transit operator in their normal daily operation is equivalent to a firefighter or a police officer in their 911 mode. There's a lot of stress."

All the more reason, he added, for TriMet to negotiate in good faith. "[The workers] lived up to their agreement," he said. "Now TriMet needs to do the same."

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Friday’s Headlines Got DOGE’d Again

Amidst uncertainty about future federal funding, Amtrak is cutting $100 million and 450 jobs.

May 9, 2025

Friday Video: Where Was the First Public Bus Route in the World?

...and which surprising historical figure helped launch it?

May 9, 2025

Talking Headways Podcast: ‘Normal’ is Not Correct, Someone Died Here

After a crash, the debris is quickly cleaned up and everyone moves on (usually too quickly). But these two experts are asking us to all slow down.

May 8, 2025

Thursday’s Headlines Are Not Gonna Pay a Lot for This Truck

President Trump's tariffs, along with rising insurance costs, are driving down Americans' interest in owning a car.

May 8, 2025

How One Suburb is Using Transit to Transform Into a True City

A Washington State suburb may be poised to evolve into a true transit-oriented hub – and offer lessons for other bedroom communities, even during an anti-transit era.

May 8, 2025
See all posts