Members of SEIU at Parry Center
beat back union-busting campaign
Workers at Parry Center for Children
have voted to stay unionized, beating
back a decertification campaign which
had the fingerprints of the virulently
anti-union management on it. In ballots
counted Dec. 2, the vote was 56 to 40 in
favor of continuing to be represented by
Service Employees International Union
(SEIU) Local 503. Parry Center is a
non-profit psychiatric residential care
facility for children located in Southeast
Portland.
Now the challenge will be to get a
new contract for the 153-member bar-
gaining unit. The most recent one ex-
pired Sept. 30. According to SEIU,
management has been continuously
hostile since the facility first unionized
in 1997. Parry Center is one of two fa-
cilities run by Trillium Family Services.
During a nine-week strike in 2004-05,
a police report was filed alleging Tril-
lium CEO Kim Scott hit a striker with
his car after accelerating through a
picket line.
Scott remains at the helm of Tril-
lium. In May — according to docu-
ments filed with the U.S. Department of
Labor — he contracted with Oklahoma-
based union-buster LRI Consulting
Services, committing Trillium to pay at
least $65,000, plus expenses, for 20
days of consulting. That was in a cam-
paign to defeat a union drive at Chil-
dren’s Farm Home — a juvenile psy-
chiatric facility in Corvallis that gets
most of its revenue from government
contracts. Local 503 lost that election on
a 59-59 tie. Children’s Farm unionized
with Local 503 once before, but the
union was never able to get a contract,
and withdrew.
Trillium also hired LRI for the Parry
Center decertification campaign, though
the dollar amount hasn’t yet been dis-
closed. An LRI consultant — paid to
bad-mouth the union — showed up at
an all-staff meeting prior to the vote, Lo-
cal 503 organizer Heather Blankenheim
told the Labor Press.
Blankenheim said it was clear to her
that the decertification campaign was
aided by management: The anti-union
campaign was well-organized and had
access to information such as how much
SEIU collects in dues. Anti-union cam-
paigners collected signatures over free
cups of coffee at a nearby Starbucks.
Union support was strongest among
Parry Center employees who work one-
on-one with the children, Blankenheim
said. The workers are expected to have a
college education, but find it hard to pay
off student loans at hourly wages that
top out at $11.44. Not surprisingly,
Blankenheim said, Parry Center staff
turnover is high. Very few workers are
still at Parry Center who were there dur-
ing the strike seven years ago. The dis-
pute ended with 80 strikers returned to
work alongside 25 who’d crossed the
picket line and 28 others who’d been
hired as permanent replacements.
Bargaining for the new contract has
not progressed much since August.
Workers want minimum staffing levels,
and health insurance options beyond
employee-only coverage, but manage-
ment is insisting that non-economic is-
sues be resolved first. Local 503 found
that one of the management proposals
that provoked the 2004 strike is back on
the table: making Parry Center an open
shop, in which union dues are voluntary.
Our members have
the power to make
the season bright.
Enjoy Your Holiday Season
from
IBEW Local 125
17200 NE Sacramento, Portland, OR
503-262-9125
The
Executive Board,
Staff and members of
OPEIU Local 11 wish everyone
a Happy and Joy-filled Holiday!
Office & Professional Employees
International Union Local 11
Happy Holi days
TO ALL OUR MEMBERS AND FRIENDS
L ABORERS L OCAL 483
M UNICIPAL E MPLOYEES
R ICHARD ‘B UZ ’ B EETLE , B USINESS M ANAGER
S COTT G IBSON , P RESIDENT
K EVIN S TAMPFLEE , V ICE P RESIDENT
F ARRELL R ICHARTZ , R ECORDING S ECRETARY
M IKE M URPHY , E-B OARD - AT -L ARGE
W ESLEY B UCHHOLZ , E-B OARD AT -L ARGE
S HAWN J ANIS , L IAISON TO THE E-B OARD
M ARK L EWIS , S GT - AT -A RMS
L ON H OLSTON , F IELD R EP
E RICA A SKIN , O RGANIZER
M EGAN H ISE , C OMMUNICATIONS D IR /A DM A SST
1125 SE Madison St., Suite 206, Portland, Oregon 503-239-5676
DECEMBER 16, 2011
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
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