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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (June 18, 2021)
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | June 18, 2021 | PAGE 3 UNION ORGANIZING WASHINGTON Hillsboro clinic the latest to unionize with AFSCME Trumka will keynote Washington State AFL-CIO convention The Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, represent- ing approximately 500,000 rank-and-file members in more than 600 labor organizations, will welcome national AFL- CIO president Richard Trumka as keynote speaker to its 2021 Convention, which will be held July 21-23 via Zoom video con- ferencing. “This past year has been hard on working families, but we have risen to the pandemic’s multiple challenges and now we have the opportunity to build back better instead of merely re- turning to ‘normal’,” said WSLC President Larry Brown. “This convention will set the WSLC’s course for the coming year as we work together to en- sure our collective voice is heard. That’s why we are urging all of our affiliated unions to send a full delegation to our convention to guide this impor- tant work.” WSLC-affiliated unions are urged to register delegates now so their credentials can be veri- fied and they can be sent all the necessary materials and infor- mation in advance. Affiliates have already been sent a Con- vention Call indicating the num- ber of delegates to which they are entitled. Each union’s master credential listing its delegates and alternates must be com- pleted by Monday, June 21, along with the $125 registra- tion fee. Delegates to the convention must be members of the union they are representing. Rank- and-file members who wish to represent their union as dele- gates should contact their local union for more information about how to serve in this role. All will receive trainings and step-by-step instructions from the WSLC on how to participate via Zoom. The convention will convene at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, July 21, continue at 5 p.m. on Thurs- day, July 22, and resume at 9 a.m. on Friday, July 23. Con- vention business is expected to conclude by the end of the day Friday. By Don McIntosh In mail ballots counted June 1, workers at Hawthorn Walk-In Center in Hillsboro voted 33-9 to join Oregon AFSCME. Hawthorn is an outpatient men- tal health and addiction clinic and the base of operations of the Washington County Crisis Team and a mental health response team that responds to 911 calls alongside sheriff’s deputies. It’s operated by the nonprofit Life- works NW. The organizing win adds 61 members to Oregon AFSCME, and it’s part of a wave of union organizing in behavioral health, a sector that combines mental health and addiction treatment. Workers at Hawthorn see pa- tients who are in acute crisis, in- cluding those referred by police and hospitals. The new bargain- ing unit includes therapists, psy- chiatrists, chemical dependency counselors, case workers and support staff. More than anything else, workers say they’re motivated to unionize by a belief in the im- portance of their work and a de- sire to keep doing it. With de- greed case managers making around $21 an hour and thera pists making around $30 an hour, turnover has been high. “Experienced employees least some effect: In the end the City agreed to 3% per year in a three-year contract that runs through Dec. 31, 2023. That’s likely to beat inflation, but it won’t catch members up to area standards. But as public employees under Washington law, the workers have limited options: They don’t have a legally recognized right to strike, and if labor and manage- ment can’t agree, management can just wait a year and impose its terms. Members voted to ratify the deal April 12. “When your boss tells you you don’t need a union, you definitely need a fucking union.” — Skye Sodja, Lifeworks union supporter who have been doing this for years are leaving in droves,” said Skye Sodja, whose service coordinator job at Lifeworks is akin to a short term case man- ager. “There’s a nationwide shortage of people in this field.” Sodja said the union cam- paign began late last year, but when it went public in April, managers seemed to be taken by surprise. They were not pleased. “We respect your right to choose,” Lifeworks NW CEO Mary Monnat wrote to employ- ees, “but we ask that you vote no in this election and give us a chance to continue to work to- gether with you directly, without a third party between us.” Soon, managers were holding workplace meetings at which they offered their opinions about why a union was not a good idea for workers. “When your boss tells you you don’t need a union, you def- initely need a fucking union,” Whether it’s a problem with your back, your legs, your hands or your head, you can be approved for Social Security Disability benefits. ‘Ellensburg 6’ get raises In March, we reported on a hul- labaloo in the central Washing- ton town of Ellensburg, popula- tion 21,000. The city-owned electric utility there employs six members of IBEW Local 77. At $47.65 an hour, they’re under- paid compared to counterparts at neighboring utilities, and when the City of Ellensburg proposed just a single 1% pay increase for their next three year contract, they started holding public protests and got support from hundreds of locals as well as IBEW members throughout the region. The effort seemed to have at Sodja told the Labor Press. The first antiunion meeting was an open conversation, workers say, but at later meet- ings, questions and backtalk were discouraged. “Management’s response probably solidified our ‘yes’ votes” said Hawthorn therapist Corey Pursel. “You could see right through it. It was very ma- nipulative.” Lifeworks service coordina- tor Meleah Nordquest said some supervisors seemed to take it very personally. But Nordquest says it wasn’t personal—work- ers saw the union as a way to have a stronger say over deci- sions that affect them. “I think it’s exciting that we can go down this route and just be able to say that our voice matters,” Nordquest said. The next step will be to come up with proposals and begin ne- gotiating a first union contract. At a minimum, workers are likely to want a transparent reg- ular wage and salary schedule, cost-of-living increases to keep up with inflation, and health in- surance that would enable them to cover family members. “We weren’t sure if this would work,” Pursel said. “But we’re happy that we did it.” Raymond Thomas James Coon Cynthia Newton Chris Frost www.tcnf.legal Sydney Montanaro Scott Sell Chris Thomas 820 SW Second Ave., Suite 200, Portland, OR 97204
