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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (March 2, 2012)
Busted! Dosha Salon Spa fires another union supporter Dosha Salon Spa, a local chain of Aveda-branded spas, is amassing quite a rap sheet with the National Labor Relations Board. Commu- nications Workers of America Local 7901 — the union that Dosha workers voted in March 2011 to join — filed two more charges against the company in February, bringing to 10 the total charges filed. The latest: Dosha suspended for a month — and on Feb. 20 ter- minated — massage therapist Philip Aust; and denied hostess Sarah Pearson her right to have a union steward as a witness when called into a manager’s office. Aust’s termination follows that of pro-union massage therapist Mary Christ, who was fired in September after wearing the union’s trademark red feather earrings in a workplace show of solidarity. An NLRB investigation determined that Christ was fired for her union sympathies, and a federal administrative law judge is scheduled March 20 to hear that and other charges. If you don’t like it, move to Australia! We’ve heard plenty about managers’ “open door” policies, but this is going too far. Greg Godfrey is the plant manager at the nonunion Dyno Nobel chemical factory in Deer Island, Oregon (north of St. Helens). On Feb. 9, according to charges filed by Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers (AWPPW), Godfrey drove to a hotel where the union was meeting with employees, walked up to the meeting room, and looked in to see who was attending. After the union organizer confronted him, he left, but he later returned and parked his vehicle a short distance from the hotel driveway — to spy on employees and discourage attendance, the union alleges. Moreover, AWPPW says, he went on to interrogate employees, ver- bally abuse union supporters, and indicate that those who supported the union were disloyal, even telling them if they didn’t like the way they were being treated, they could leave and move to Australia. [Since 2008, Dyno Nobel has been owned by Incitec Pivot Limited, an Australia-headquartered maker of fertilizers and industrial explo- sives.] Despite the intimidation, AWPPW has requested a union election to determine if the 24 workers at the plant want to join. The Hire Oregon Veterans (HOV) Program is a partnership between Community Solutions for Clackamas County, Labor’s Community Service Agency, Inc. and the WorkSource Oregon Employ- ment Department. Services are offered in Clackamas, Marion, Multnomah, Polk, Washington and Yamhill counties. PAGE 8 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS MARCH 2, 2012
