By Andrea Damewood, Willamette Week, August 14, 2013
Daryl Turner
Breaking a deadlock over public bargaining sessions, the city of Portland and the Portland Police Association will hold a public contract negotiation tomorrow morning.
The meeting is set for 8:30 am to noon in Room 2500 A of the 1900 Building, 1900 SW Fourth Ave.
The announcement comes more than two weeks after the PPA filed an unfair labor agreement with the state, saying that Mayor Charlie Hales‘ insistence that some meetings be public violated labor rules. The city and union held a few public bargaining meetings in 2010, but in a letter to union members, PPA President Daryl Turner said that this year, he was insisting on secrecy.
READ – PPA unfair labor complaint (PDF, 214KB)
“During these negotiations there will sometimes be miscommunications, misconceptions, and out right disagreements that need to be sorted out before there is resolution,” Turner wrote.
The city set a public meeting for Aug. 1, and showed up for bargaining despite the complaint. But as the Portland Mercury reported, the PPA did not show.
But today, Turner posted on the PPA Rap Sheet Facebook page that the team met with the city and worked out how to proceed.
“As we did in 2010, we have agreed to alternate locations for our bargaining sessions. When the session is held at the city, it will be open to the public,” he writes. “However, public observers must comply with specific rules, such as no blogging, recording, or disrupting the negotiations session.”
Sessions held at the PPA will continue to be private.
Representatives from the city’s Human Resources department did not immediately return calls for comment.