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
