A man walks into Portland City Hall on Nov. 12, 2025, in Portland, Ore.
Eli Imadali / OPB
Portland’s city council staffers have unionized, one year after a major overhaul to the city’s system of government.
Workers say they hope the union drive will lead to stronger workplace protections for staff stretched thin under the new system.
“We want to set the new government up for success for the long term, and that includes council staff,” said a staffer speaking on behalf of the new union, called the Council Alliance of Workers, or CAW.
Those leading the unionizing work have asked for anonymity at the onset, out of concern that their work will be politicized based on which councilors they work for. The three CAW representatives who spoke to OPB included two staff for a councilor who is part of the progressive caucus (nicknamed the “Peacock”) and one for a councilor who is not.
“One thing really important is that all of us are here to serve the city to best serve our constituents and create a safe place to do that,” said the CAW representative. “It doesn’t matter what the political leanings of your office are. We all deserve protection.”
The union represents 41 employees who work for city councilors and for the city’s council operations department, an office that does policy research and prepares presentations for council meetings.
Roughly 60% of all eligible union members have signed union cards as of this week. Public sector workers cannot be forced to join a union under federal law, meaning only those who sign up to join CAW will be included. Workers can join the union at any time.
According to union leaders, staff from eight of the 12 council offices have joined the union.
CAW is organized under the Communications Workers of America Local 7901. Portland city employees are represented by 14 different labor unions.
The announcement comes as Portland approaches its first year under a new form of government, a voter-approved overhaul that brought significant changes to City Hall. That included expanding the size of the city council from five to 12 people and creating council committees — a change that more than tripled the number of monthly meetings held in council chambers. Councilors, who used to have about seven staff each, now only have the budget to cover three full-time staff members.
While this expansion came with specific changes to council members’ roles, there were no clear expectations set for their staff. CAW representatives say they are often asked to work long hours unexpectedly and juggle the work of several staff members. They hope that, by unionizing, they can bring some stability to the workplace.
“The cliche we hear all the time about the new city government is that we’re building a plane as flying it,” said the union representative. “We’ve definitely experienced that. We don’t have any clear job descriptions; there’s no clarity. We want to set future council staff up for success in this new system.”
Council staff are largely hired and managed by their councilors. Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney oversees the council operations staff.
In a statement sent to OPB, Pirtle-Guiney expressed her support for the CAW union.
“I am a strong believer in unions and support every worker’s right to form a union,” she said. “That doesn’t stop at my staff or any council staff.”
The union will next elect a bargaining committee to kick off contract negotiations with city management.
Council staff who don’t support the union drive could challenge its formation – yet no challenge has come forward. CAW representatives say they’re hopeful more council staff will join the union effort.
“But regardless of what happens,” they said, “all staff will be impacted by having people fighting for them.”
