PAGE 8 | June 7, 2019 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
UNION ORGANIZING
Veterans Nursing Home workers
join United Steelworkers
A group of 213 workers at a
Lebanon, Oregon, nursing
home for veterans won a union
May 20. The vote was a “re-
run” election, held after the Na-
tional Labor Relations Board
(NLRB) ruled that the results of
an earlier union vote were
tainted labor law violations by
management at Veterans Care
Centers of Oregon. The re-run
tally was 75 to 63 in favor of
joining United Steelworkers of
America (USW).
USW had lost the earlier
March 4 union election by one
vote, after nursing home man-
agers disciplined pro-union
workers for distributing union
literature and took other coer-
cive actions that the NLRB
concluded violated U.S. labor
law.
USW represents about 170
workers at a veterans nursing
home in The Dalles, Oregon,
that is run by the same non-
profit employer.
The newly unionized unit in-
cludes certified nurse assistants,
licensed practical nurses, med-
ical records clerks, activities co-
ordinators, barbers, and mainte-
nance and transportation work-
ers. A separate union vote was
held for “professional” employ-
ees like registered nurses, but
they voted 8 to 3 not to join the
union.
Meanwhile, workers at the
nursing home in The Dalles
voted May 23 to approve a new
three-year agreement that will
raise wages 15 percent. For the
first time, the agreement also in-
cludes union security — a re-
quirement that all represented
workers pay union dues.
USW District 12 representa-
tive Jim Kilborn said the union
faced hostile management
there, too. Managers pulled
down union information about
the tentative agreement on the
day of the ratification vote. And
even with the contract ratifica-
tion, supporters will have to de-
fend their union there, because
a group of anti-union employ-
ees gathered signatures of at
least 30 percent of the work
force to hold a decertification
vote. That vote has not been
scheduled yet.
Raymond Thomas
Cynthia Newton
Melissa Haggerty
James Coon
Chris Frost
Sydney Montanaro
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820 SW Second Ave., Suite 200,
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...Low-wage autism
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From Page 3
ceive it? Some surely did. Al-
most immediately, the com-
pany’s email system was taken
down, and even the email app it-
self was deleted from company-
provided tablets.
After all that effort by the
company, only two workers
changed their minds, and —
along with a new hire and one
worker who was always op-
posed — made up the four who
voted against the union.
For the workers at 102nd Av-
enue, their next step is to bar-
gain a first contract. Workers
hope through the union to be
able to raise wages, reduce
turnover, and end practices like
split shifts where they might
work 10 to noon and then sit
around three hours unpaid for a
3 to 5 shift.
The Labor Press contacted
CARD last week to confirm de-
tails of this story, and was di-
rected to human resources direc-
tor Judith Friend. Friend did not
return the call.
Bethany Sherer
971.978.9534
12/31/19
2018
