Ken Cropper is a labor activist from Portland, Oregon. During the 2000s, he was the political organizer for Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 140, which represents school custodians in the Portland Public Schools system.

Sources: Information provided by Ken Cropper in 2023; "Portland Custodians Opt for Personal Protest," Oregonian, June 13, 2002, page D03.

In 2002, the board of Portland Public Schools in Oregon, citing cuts in state educational funding, announced the layoff of custodians who belonged to Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 140, intending to replace them with contract workers from the Portland Habilitation Center as a cost-cutting measure. Portland Habilitation Center was designated as a Qualified Rehabilitation Facility (QRF) contractor because of its employment of individuals with disabilities, though evidence from a later lawsuit against the organization found that it failed to satisfy QRF requirements that at least 75 percent of its contracted work be performed by people with disabilities.

SEIU Local 140, working with Portland Jobs for Justice, mounted a campaign to save the custodians' jobs, which included petitions and public support from teachers, parents, and students. When the layoffs began, the union filed a complaint with the Custodians' Civil Service Board, arguing that the termination of Local 140 members violated state law. Although the Custodians' Civil Service Board agreed, the Portland School Board ignored the ruling and continued to dismiss Local 140 workers. The case eventually reached the Oregon Supreme Court, which ruled 4-3 in favor of Local 140. In 2007, SEIU Local 140 and Portland Public Schools reached a settlement that included financial compensation for workers who had been laid off. Fewer than half of the custodians who had been laid off returned to their jobs at Portland Public Schools.

Sources: "N Site 1: 501 N. Dixon Street – Struggle Against Outsourcing of Portland Public Schools Custodians (2002)," Portland Labor History Tour, Portland Jobs with Justice website (accessed January 15, 2025), https://jwjpdx.org/portlandrising/portland-labor-history-tour/; "Disabled Worker Programs Act as a Wedge for Privatization," Northwest Labor Press, September 21, 2007 (accessed February 12, 2025), https://nwlaborpress.org/2007/9-21-07QRF.html; "Lights Off, Doors Close," Oregonian, August 23, 2002, page B01; "School Custodians Win in Court," Oregonian, October 14, 2005, page A01; "Keys Can be Restored, Trust Is Harder to Unlock," Oregonian, July 31, 2006, page B01.