Original Coverage & Source Attribution: katu.com
PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — Multnomah County workers took to the streets on Thursday to protest the county’s new return-to-office mandate.
Members of Oregon AFSCME Local 88, which represents more than 3,800 county employees, held a picket outside the Multnomah Building at lunchtime.
They say six years of telework hasn’t hurt productivity, and argue the mandate could cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars, just as the county cuts department budgets over a structural deficit.
“And we really want leadership to stop. We want them to go back to looking at things from the perspective of what’s best for the community, and how is it a mutual benefit for workers and the county,” said Jackie Tate, the AFSCME Local 88 President.
According to the county, roughly 3 out of 4 of its employees already work in-person at least some of the time.
The county says this initiative is to better serve the thousands of people who count on them every day.
