Non-supervisory staffers at the Portland Development Commission voted May 1 to join the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The secret-ballot election was conducted by the Oregon Employment Relations Board.

The vote to unionize was 63 to 50 in a bargaining unit of 127.

PDC is the quasi-independent development arm of the City of Portland. It operates on an annual budget of nearly $250 million funded by tax dollars.

“This is a satisfying victory, considering the anti-union position taken by the Oregonian newspaper,” said Ken Allen, executive director of AFSCME Oregon Council 75.