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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (May 17, 1996)
here to do.” raised $100,000, and the “Ready to Live” fashion Just Out was told that the annual salaries of the show benefit at Gold’s Gym in November, which employees we met with hovered in the range of brought in $10,000. $20,000 to $25,000. And Eakin and others say “I had been working at CAP for nine months. that CAP management has done a fairly good job I never received any job performance evaluation during the past several months to create parity in or heard any bad words about my work from salary levels. (Stoltenberg says some employee anyone,” says Kessler. “One day I was called into salaries have increased a full 40 percent.) my supervisor’s office, and for the next 40 min However, staffers expressed concern that some utes was told that I hadn’t done a good enough job. CAP workers— most notably those who conduct I asked for specifics, which I didn’t get. I said I outreach into various communities— are paid by had been there nine months and no one had said the hour, usually at an $8-per-hour rate, or, as one anything like this. I was then informed that the employee smirks, “just enough to stay off food department was restructuring and another full stamps.” time development director was going to be hired. “While this isn’t about money, it is important I was told they were letting me go.” that people are paid a living wage,” says OPEU’s Kessler says he was later instructed to “clear Grant. “It’s one thing for management to say the out my desk and leave.” money just isn’t there, but a union provides a “It was very strange,” says Kessler, who had collective voice. Workers can say, ‘Show us the been making a $24,000 salary. He says Stoltenberg books,’ and not fear reprisal the way an individual called him at home that night to say there had been would.” some miscommunication. He says the duo met a Staffers also want the hiring and promotion few days later, when Kessler says Stoltenberg process opened up. offered him a part-time data entry job at an $8 “When I was hired, no one asked for my hourly rate. resume,” says Grace Taylor, who started as a Kessler remains unemployed. temp in November 1995, moved to a part-time “It happened just like that,” says Hoop. “He post in February, and last month took on a full didn’t have any chance to respond.” time job. Shaken by the incident, other well-liked and— Additionally, Taylor, who graduated from according to the accounts of several colleagues— Lewis & Clark College in 1992, says she had to solid employees, voluntarily left CAP due to the write her own job description. stress. “Maybe the situation was good for me, but the “That’s what really set me off,” says Hoop. “I process shouldn’t work like that. The hiring pro wondered if I would have to face that kind of cess should be more open and publicized to the treatment in the future.” community at large,” says Taylor, who makes Stoltenberg would not comment about any $20,000 annually and receives a benefit package. alleged incident involving specific staffers. She “Maybe that would lead to more diversity here as did, however, admit that while the agency’s turn well.” over rate “was low throughout 1995, it did esca Wendi Johnson, 26, is an advocacy specialist late in January and February 1996, which I do who has been with CAP a little more than a year. imagine was a catalyst for this.” She believes a union will help establish a more She also acknowledged the organization’s lack diverse workforce, which is critical given the of a clear and consistent evaluation policy. escalation in HIV transmission in people of color ‘There is not a set of written guidelines,” says communities. No person of color was at our Stoltenberg. ‘T hat’s true. We have never had the meeting, and employees count less than a handful money to have a personnel [manager] to handle of people of color on staff. these types of things. This is all part of a matura “If a person is bilingual, we should view that tion process.” as a skill which they should be financially com Eakin, who was hired in August 1993, says pensated for,” says Johnson. “I think through a during her tenure with CAP, she has had “four union we could develop very clear criteria that different job descriptions and five different super don’t exist right now.” visors—all with different management styles.” Johnson would also like to see more people ‘There has been no continuity. One supervisor living with HIV on staff. may handle situations one way, while another “We do these trainings for others about ‘AIDS handles it completely differently,” she says. “It and the Workplace.’ We go in and teach others makes it extremely confusing for an employee.” how to create safe and comfortable environments Her frustration is echoed by others, who say for employees [or prospective employees] with that while some supervisors are “great,” others HIV/AIDS.” overtly threaten employees with dismissal. It is ironic, she says, that CAP has yet to create “It makes you feel like you can’t come for such an atmosphere in its own office. ward and say something about it,” she says, with “There is so much stress here, with people nearly everyone nodding in agreement, “because worrying whether they’re going to be fired, which you’ll be fired and you can’t do anything about obviously is not an ideal environment for some it.” one with HIV,” says Rittall. “If people know for “There’s absolutely too much gray area here,” sure what they’re supposed to be doing, and how says another employee. they’re supposed to be doing it, it can greatly “In the past few months as I began to talk with reduce the stress.” staff and former staff, it became very clear that this was a continuing problem at CAP,” says toltenberg said she did not have the authority Hoop. “It’s almost cyclical. Each time a step may to recognize the union when asked to do so be taken to rectify a problem, things would even tually go back to business as usual.” on April 15. “That would have been it. We could have done Staffers say they are expected to handle a a card check. If the majority of employees wanted number of duties that don’t fall within their job descriptions—even if they don’t have adequate the union, we could have gotten the process un training in a particular area, and without proper derway,” says Grant. salary compensation— making them more stretched Grant says that while Stoltenberg did not rec and stressed than they already claim to be. ognize the union, she did call for an NLRB inves tigation, maintaining that the union campaign “I’ve been asked to handle crisis intervention was possibly tainted. The charge carries an impli specialist work. 1 can do it, but it’s not part of my cation that management-level workers were inap job description,” says Laura Rittall, a PAL (per propriately involved in the unionizing effort. sonal active listener) program support coordina “It’s called an allegation of taint,” explains tor. Amy Stear, OPEU’s director of organizing. Stear “I really want to make the point that this isn’t says that during her 15 years of union organizing, about money,” says Eakin. “We are not in this line of work because we expect to get rich. We do it she has only “seen a charge of taint maybe twice.” “Essentially, what taint involves is the undue because we love it.... My worst days here are coercion [by management] of appropriate bar when one of my speakers dies. I feel a lot of pain gaining unit employees, which is illegal,” says and frustration about losing people, but it keeps Stear. me focused on why I stay here. I just don’t feel we According to Grant, CAP management main- need all of the additional [administrative/person- nel] problems getting in the way of what wegre , tained that sixemployeps who signed union cards S PHOTO BY LINDA KLIEWER j u s t o u t ▼ m a y 1 7 . 1 9 9 6 T 21 Brian Hoop (left) and David Brinkman were actually management. The employees in question scoffed at the claim that they were man agement. The OPEU Organizing Committee of CAP responded by firing off a biting leaflet which quoted some of those employees whose status was being questioned. “Did you know that CAP is calling you a manager?” read the leaflet. “If all the coordinators are management, the ratio of staff to management will be almost 2:1. If such a high percentage of our budget actually went to management, the community would be outraged,” said Eakin in the document. “That’s easy for them to say,” added Freddy Calla-Waiwa, Latino services coordinator, “but everything I want and everything I do goes through other people. I don’t make the final decision.” ‘T h at’s crazy,” chimed Tom Cotter, the PAL and volunteer coordinator. “I see this simply as a ploy to stall our union.” The leaflet was sent to the press. D uring a CAP board of directors meeting on May 1, several staffers went before the board to discount claims that they were management, while others told board members why they wanted to form a union. Following the meeting, says Stear, CAP with drew its call for an investigation. "It’s very unusual to have a charge of taint, and it’s also very unusual for management to with draw the charge so quickly,” says Stear. “We think the board’s response is a very positive one.” ‘That was really the first chance the board had to act, and they did the right thing. They deserve credit for that,” says Eakin. According to Grant, even though the request for an “investigation” was withdrawn, an NLRB hearing to determine an appropriate bargaining unit for an election was still set for May 13. Again, members of CAP’S OPEU Organizing Committee responded via leaflet: Hoop said: “We appreciate the board of direc tors’ decision to withdraw the request for an investigation by the NLRB. However, they still have the opportunity to avoid a divisive hearing and directly recognize our union. The staff at CAP are unified and ready to be a union. I’m ready to vote yes for OPEU!” Said Susan Hartwell, CAP fiscal coordinator: “Wednesday night [the May 1 board meeting] was an unforgettable high for all of us. The eloquence of our indi vidual voices and the strength of our unity was powerful and moving. It was great to reconfirm my commitment to OPEU with so many of my fellow CAP staff members.” Union backers claimed that the hearing would “actually [be] a waste of time [because] we filed for an appropriate bargaining unit, and if we can’t gain voluntary recognition, we want to move to an election as soon as possible.” , Whei? J t t s f p u f met wjt]i £ A P employees,, staffers were under the impression that the hear ing was still on. When we talked with Stoltenberg on May 10, we were informed that the hearing had been canceled because CAP had agreed to honor the unionization process. Stoltenberg tells Just Out that the CAP board is “not interested in blocking the union,” and will “work as quickly as possible to negotiate a con tract to ensure all employees have a voice.” ‘Things are moving along in a very positive way,” says Stear, who says management has agreed to either conduct a card check or hold an election no later than June 7. “Getting a card check is very unusual,” says Stear. “If we do, we can essentially get to the table and start negotiating. We would like to do that as soon as possible.” Union enthusiasts at CAP are also eager to move ahead. A media statement from “CAP Workers Lo- cal/OPEU” reads, in part: ‘The nature of our work tends to be emotional and difficult. This is one reason that our agency experiences regular staff turnover at every level. For years, CAP staff have experienced several management styles and at tempts to solve personnel issues. They have all been transient and short-lived. For this reason, we have created a solution that will endure. This epidemic commands our full attention. To be able to provide for it we need to guarantee that we will be supported in our workplace. The solution for us is a union. It is one that will set a firm foundation for everyone who works at CAP, now and in the future.” The statement says the union will provide a “collective voice [to] ensure integrity and equity in creating a safe and stable work environment with clear, just and consistent administrative and personnel procedures and policies.... As a Union, we are committed to inclusiveness and openness in hiring and acting on staff and community ideas and concerns. Our collective decision-making process strives for consensus. Short of consensus, we will vote with majority rule on pressing mat ters to ensure movement forward.” What a union will mean to CAP consumers remains unclear, but at least one CAP consumer Just Out spoke with says he fully supports the move toward unionization. “I think it’s vital that staff be comfortable in their workplace,” says Bob Doyle, 41, an attorney who is currently on disability. Doyle, who proudly admits that he grew up in a union family, says he does not fear that consum ers like himself will receive a smaller part of the funding pie (for client services) if a union is established at CAP. “If people are comfortable and not fearful they will lose their job at the whim of management, then they will do a better job. Turnover will decrease, and consumers are better able to de velop, solid relationships during a difficult time, yvhich I think is important,” he, says, . , . .
