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.”