Fundraiser for OSPIRG fires two
workers who helped form a union
Employees at Fund for
the Public Interest’s
Portland call center
voted in October to
unionize with CWA
A non-profit fundraiser for OSPIRG
and its spinoff group Environment Ore-
gon has fired two workers who helped
lead a campaign to unionize. On Oct.
12, workers at the Portland call center
run by the Fund for the Public Interest
voted 19-to-5 to join Communications
Workers of America (CWA) Local
7901. In December, the Fund termi-
nated Kris Humbird and Mike Schultz
— two of the three workers who were
elected to the union’s contract bargain-
ing team.
Fund for the Public Interest is a na-
tional non-profit organization that is
linked to the state public interest advo-
cacy groups known as PIRGs. The
Fund runs PIRG canvass operations in
multiple states, and telephone outreach
call centers in Boston, Sacramento and
Portland.
The Fund may have a history of
union-busting. According to one press
account, after Fund workers in Los An-
geles voted in 2005 to unionize, man-
agement fired union supporters, re-
fused to negotiate, and put a freeze on
new hiring in the high-turnover work-
place. Eleven months after the union
vote, the Fund closed the Los Angeles
office altogether, and moved the opera-
tion to Sacramento.
Humbird, 33, says he learned of the
Los Angeles case soon after he began
working for the Fund six years ago,
when a donor told him he would no
longer give to CalPIRG because it was
a union-buster.
Will the Fund similarly try to bust
the union campaign at the Portland of-
fice? After the union vote, workers say,
the Fund directed the Portland office to
stop calling a donor list for U.S. PIRG.
It transferred that list to the Sacramento
call center, and gave the Portland call
center less lucrative lists. For example,
the Portland callers were made to ask
for end-of-year donations from donors
who’d given just months before, or
were given donors to Environment Col-
orado who had moved out of Colorado.
Soon after, three workers were placed
on probation for failing to meet
fundraising quotas, and a fourth
worker, Schultz, was fired.
As for Humbird, officially he was
fired for calling in sick too late. He says
that was a pretext.
Local 7901 has filed three charges
with the National Labor Relations
Board alleging that the Fund broke fed-
eral labor law — for firing Humbird,
changing the list, and refusing to pro-
vide information about the list after the
union asked for it in bargaining.
It also appears the Fund may have
PAGE 8
outsourced calling for Environment
Oregon to Gordon and Schwenkmeyer
Inc., a for-profit political telemarketing
firm based in El Segundo, California.
Job security was one of several mo-
tives workers had for unionizing, says
Local 7901 President Madelyn Elder.
Workers would like a fairer pay system,
she says, including more control over
the quotas they’re judged by. Workers
start at $8.50 an hour and can rise to
$14.50. Every 80 hours, they’re evalu-
ated; if they meet targets, their hourly
pay goes up 50 cents, but if they do
poorly, the pay can drop much more
than 50 cents. There are also bonuses
that average $40 every two weeks, de-
pending on how much money they raise
on the phone. But workers who don’t
meet the weekly quota are placed on
“ultimatum,” and if they miss the quota
two weeks in a row, they’re terminated
— regardless of how long they’ve
worked there. Workers interviewed by
the Labor Press said they may work one
or two four-hour shifts from 1 to 9 p.m.,
but are prevented from working full-
time. They have no paid sick days or
any other paid time off.
“There’s a long history in the Fund
of treating workers as if they’re dispos-
able,” said Schultz, also 33, who was
fired for missing quota.
Schultz said he worked as a can-
vasser for the Fund from 2001-2005,
and had been in the call center six
months when he was fired for missing
quotas on the new list two weeks in a
row. Workers have no say in choosing
or preparing the call lists or setting the
quotas.
“I feel like I was fired because I was
one of the most vocal pro-union people
in the office,” Schultz told the Labor
Press.
The workers have set up a support
page on Facebook: Portland T.O.P.
Unite. They also wrote a letter to the
heads of OSPIRG and Environment
Oregon, asking them to intervene.
Humbird said their replies were nearly
identical: The groups said they only
contract with the Fund, and that they
believe the Fund is negotiating in good
faith.
Workers also wear red CWA T-
shirts on Wednesdays, and have bor-
rowed tactics from Occupy Wall Street:
Before a shift begins, a worker will
yell, “mic check!” and co-workers will
respond, setting up a group amplifica-
tion system to voice complaints about
the list and fired co-workers.
On Dec. 15, workers and supporters
staged a picket — and caroling — out-
side the Fund office, 1536 SE 11th Ave.
Oregon AFL-CIO President Tom
Chamberlain met with OSPIRG execu-
tive director David Rosenfeld to con-
vey labor’s concerns.
“I told him workers should be
treated fairly, and to me this didn’t pass
the sniff test,” Chamberlain said.
The state labor federation has at
times worked closely with OSPIRG in
the Oregon Legislature.
“We’re going to support our affiliate
CWA and the workers at that call cen-
ter, whatever it takes,” Chamberlain
told the Labor Press. “The rights of
those workers outweigh any relation-
ship we may have with OSPIRG.”
Rosenfeld did not return a call from
the Labor Press.
The union bargaining team has met
with management just once to bargain
a contract — for four hours in Novem-
ber — with the Fund’s National Tele-
phone Outreach Project Director Pat
Wood. Another bargaining session is
scheduled for Jan. 10-11.
‘Spirit of Giving’ for our furry friends
TANGENT, Ore. — IBEW Local 280 raised over $1,000 this year for its “Spirit
of Giving Sheltered Animal Drive.” The money was used to purchase “Kong” dog
toys, rawhide bones, blankets, food, detergent, bleach, and grooming supplies for
dogs and cats at the Linn County and Lane County animal shelters. Additionally,
the local’s Executive Board granted both shelters $750 each for veterinary ex-
penses. Money was raised through membership donations and from the local’s
public service fund. Money for that fund comes from a cents-per-hour checkoff
negotiated in the union’s collective bargaining agreement with contractors.
“We are very happy to say that every dog in both shelters received a dog toy and
rawhide bone for Christmas, and every cat received a toy, too,” said Local 280 re-
ceptionist Sherri Wallman, who coordinates the fundraiser.
“Many people forget about the homeless, neglected and abused animals this
time of year,” Wallman said. “Most people are aware of, and donate to, the Humane
Society, but they forget about the county shelters. Unfortunately, they look at these
shelters as the ‘Dog Pound,’ which is the farthest thing from the truth.”
Wallman said the two animal shelters she selected work hard to find homes for
lost, abused, and neglected animals. Last year the shelters found homes for 91 per-
cent of the 2,894 dogs and cats they took in.
‘American Made’
in the Northwest
Mon-Fri 9:30-7:30 Sat 9:30-5:30 Sun 12-6
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
JANUARY 6, 2012