Last week, the two unions representing staff and faculty at Portland Community College declared a strike, the first for any community college in Oregon history. Then, Portland Community College announced classes would be remote through Monday, Mar. 16.
It’s Monday, and PCC and the unions have still not reached a deal. And after a mediation session Sunday afternoon, classes are still remote, and the parties seem like they’re drifting further apart.
Portland Community College’s Federation of Faculty and Academic Professionals and Federation of Classified Employees union members chant as they march through the Portland Community College Cascade campus in Northeast Portland, Ore., while on strike on March 11, 2026.
Eli Imadali / OPB
“Today was very disappointing,” Federation of Faculty and Academic Professionals President Ben Cushing told OPB Sunday evening.
PCC administrators presented a new proposal Sunday, moving from a flat payment for ratification to a tiered payment based on salary. The pay range in the new proposal ranges from $100 for employees making the most money to $3,000 for employees making under $50,000. Previously, PCC’s offer included a $1,000 flat payment for those in the Federation for Classified Employees union and a $500 payment for staff in the Faculty and Academic Professionals union.
PCC president Adrien Bennings said in a Monday message that the change was a response to bargaining teams and students asking “to support the lowest-paid employees and address equity concerns in compensation.”
“We share those concerns, and we felt that restructuring the ratification payment was an effective way to put more money in the hands of the employees who need it most, while still working within the financial realities the college is facing,” Bennings wrote.
Cushing, from FFAP, said the change was a “slight decrease” from the college’s previous offer.
Today, the parties are meeting again for what’s scheduled as a 12-hour mediation session.
“Our members are committed to staying strong and on the picket line until we settle a contract,” Cushing wrote.
“We’re up against a broken model of higher education. It’s time to put students, workers and the community first, and to build a college system that serves the common good.”
PCC employees have been on strike since last week — the first strike of any community college in Oregon.
In her note Monday, Bennings said it’s been a “difficult week.”
“The tension and frustration many people are feeling are real,” Bennings wrote.
“We see it on campus, we hear it from employees and students, and we know it reflects deeper concerns about compensation, affordability, and trust in how decisions are made at the college.”
