Workers win, city loses
Editorial
One of Keith Wilson’s first big decisions as mayor came after ordering city workers back to their offices. Within a month, he reversed himself due to pushback from city employees and their unions.
Wilson was right the first time. Requiring city employees to show up in person was a good call. As the first step in rejuvenating downtown, bringing warm bodies to populate offices, street life, restaurants and shops was spot on.
It was also in harmony with his broad mandate to end homelessness. Most voters bought into his calls for common sacrifice to fund shelters while also accommodating their impact on neighborhoods.
But the backlash from city staff who didn’t want to go back to work was bitter. About 1,400 city employees bared their outrage at a virtual meeting. “This is insulting to all office workers,” “I have never been so disrespected by elected leaders” and “remote work opportunities are essential for equity.” One union representative demanded that the city’s problems not be “laid on the backs of workers.”
The last comment leaves no wiggle room. If city workers cannot be directed to address the city’s needs and problems, who can? Volunteers?
The workers’ insistence on sharing no part of the load is particularly galling. Going to work in person was not an unforeseeable hardship. That’s what they signed up for, and then the pandemic gave them a latitude they grew to assume was their right. They weren’t asked to give up something they were entitled to; just forgo an unearned temporary benefit.
They argued that they could be more productive at home. Their employer took a broader view of productivity—doing all they could to help save the city. And who should be setting the goals for their employment: the highest elected official in the city or 7,000 workers deciding what fits their schedules?
I’m concerned about the trend in Portland government that gives workers too much job security and excessive leverage over the terms of their employment. It weighs against a full commitment to their mission, the guidance of their supervisors and their “customers,” in this case the citizens and taxpayers of the city.
Charter reform, which was supposed to break down the insular siloes, has not made a dent in this problem. Bureau managers and their staffs remain too often negligent and even hostile toward the public and engaged citizens. Explanations of the long delay in creating a park in Slabtown are only coming out now, but it has to do with staff members who “hid the ball” from neighborhood representatives, not letting them know where and when they might have influenced decisions regarding plans for the park.
When Portland Parks & Recreation managers finally met with the Northwest District Association last month, details spilled out. It became clear that the person who for years has been the point of contact in the bureau was openly hostile to the association, blaming it for holding up the whole process.
Four other PP&R managers heard the comments and did nothing to correct the record then or later. I don’t know that any neighbors expected that to happen, though such a step would have come naturally to a capable private sector manager.
But no one saw anything or said anything, and bureau culture was reinforced at the lowest common denominator. Individuals who least fulfill their duties are protected.
This is only an example. I see similar dysfunction at other bureaus, and it’s gotten worse in time. Does it relate to unions that protect the prerogatives of workers who don’t want to put themselves out or yield to the directives of their supervisors? Probably, to some degree, though there may be other factors.
What we know is that when a new mayor called his people to serve a higher purpose—the future of the city—they dug in their heels and said no. Mayor Wilson lost some credibility when all could see that his own team members did not respect his orders.
What would have happened had he stuck to his guns and fired those who blatantly defied it? I imagine that his next directive would have met less resistance. And those removed from the city payroll would not have been missed long.
yes, exactly. Aren't we ALL in this effort of getting Portland back on it's feet? If you're not here to help, step aside to make room for someone who is.
i am a retired professional nonprofit fundraising manager who spent 49 years getting up early five to six days a week to spend 50-60 hours a week at my office or out visiting donors in their homes or workplaces. i cannot in a million years fathom how I would have been at all effective if I had phoned it in by working at home as so many people argue is a more productive way of conducting their employment. I have no sympathy for those who resist going to their workplace and interacting with their colleagues in a manner they cannot accomplish working from home.