City and Police Union Survive Negotiations Without Declaring Impasse

Contrary to their previously reported plans, the City of Portland and the police union survived a morning round of contract negotiations with neither side declaring impasse.

That means the talks will remain open to the public for now.

But the next round of talks is set for next Friday, Dec. 10. And the union president, Officer Daryl Turner, says the option remains to declare an impasse and move the talks behind closed doors.

"Obviously it could happen at any time, but not today," Turner says.

Union attorney Will Aitchison says negotiations recently hit a difficult stretch, with both sides failing to agree on how to narrow their lists of proposals.

But Aitchison expressed hope the waters may calm after this morning's session. "The tenor of the meeting was that there may well be many more [public] bargaining sessions," he says.