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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 2021)
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | October 1, 2021 | PAGE 7 Hospital techs in The Dalles join OFNHP-AFT Local 5017 Vote result is an absolute smack- down to union-busters and the managers who hired them. By Don McIntosh It’s rare to see such a lopsided vote: In ballots counted Sept. 24, hospital techs at Mid-Co- lumbia Medical Center in The Dalles, Oregon, voted 45-4 to unionize with Oregon Federa- tion of Nurses and Health Pro- fessionals (OFNHP)-American Federation of Nurses Local 5017. That’s more than 10 to 1, and it means the hospital will have to recognize and bargain with OFNHP as the representa- tive of 72 diagnostic imaging technologists, respiratory ther- apists, and other techs. Mid-Columbia is a nonprofit 49-bed regional acute care hos- pital that serves the Columbia River Gorge and surrounding areas. The ground for the union campaign was set after years without raises, not even cost- of-living, and a growing sense that management wasn’t listen- ing. Hospital techs contacted OFNHP this spring after they were inspired by similar work- ers who were gearing up for a strike at St. Charles Medical Center in Bend. “They basically had organ- ized themselves,” said OFNHP staff organizer Sam Potter. “More than 80% of the depart- ment, when I first stepped in, was already engaged, interested UNIONIZATION ] JUL-AUG 2021 The following are Oregon and Southwest Washington workplaces where workers have decided whether to be represented by a union. The thumbs-up symbol means workers will be union- represented. Thumbs-down means they’ll be on their own. The information comes from the National Labor Relations Board and the Oregon Employment Relations Board. Union election results Employer (Location) Union Yes-No Oregon Virtual Academy (North Bend) AFT-Oregon 85-16 ^ ■ 101 teachers, counselors, instructional coaches, and support staff Safeway (Portland) Bakers Local 114 2-1 ^ ■ 3 production bakers, utility bakers, and cake decorators at the 8145 SW Barbur Blvd. store Imperfect Foods (Oregon, Washington. Idaho) Teamsters Local 162 42-44 % ■ 102 delivery drivers in Clackamas, Springfield, Tumwater, SeaTac, Spokane Valley and Boise South Hillsboro Immediate Care Clinic (Hillsboro) Oregon AFSCME 11-0 ■ 11 radiology techs, medical assistants and receptionists Unionization by majority signup Employer (Location) Union Office of Public Defense Services (Salem) Oregon AFSCME ■ 25 employees ^ in forming the union, and had been talking amongst them- selves.” Management’s anti-union campaign stumbled from the be- ginning. When OFNHP asked the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to hold an elec- tion for the 50 workers catego- rized as “technical,” 45 of them had already signed union cards. Lawyers for Mid-Columbia proposed to add workers to OFNHP’s proposed unit, a standard anti-union tactic meant to dilute union support. But it backfired. With two days to respond, OFNHP put out feelers and found that most of those workers would like to have a union too; OFNHP did- n’t object, and 22 workers were added to the group that would vote. Next, just days after Mid-Co- lumbia’s HR director wrote to workers deriding the union as a “third party” that would come between them and the hospital, Mid-Columbia brought out its own third party: a pair of union- busters from a suburban Los An- geles firm. Based on previous federally-required disclosures, Potter thinks Cesar Lopez and Arthur Wentworth were paid $3,000 a day for their work try- ing to talk workers out of the union. But as they conducted mandatory anti-union meetings (which are illegal in Oregon), they were hemmed in by union supporters who came prepared to question and push back. The consultants presented them- selves as neutrals, educators who just wanted to make sure that workers knew all the facts. “Then why is your web ad- dress VoteNo.com?” workers asked. The consultants were gone by the time ballots were mailed. Potter said the newly union- ized techs are ready to stand in solidarity with the already- unionized nurses in Oregon Nurses Association, who’ve been having difficulty getting an acceptable union contract. “As the newest union at Mid-Columbia, we have their back.”
