A Colorado-based labor organization has accused the Rocky Mountains branch of Planned Parenthood of union-busting for contesting the results of workplace organizing vote.
The nonprofit family-planning organization has contended that the election was invalid because some of its regional offices were improperly excluded from the vote.
“Our brothers & sisters at @PPRMBargaining are fighting for higher wages, a voice on the job, and the opportunity to provide the best care to their patients. They voted to form a union, but @PPRockyMountain refuses to recognize it,” the Service Employees International Union tweeted Thursday.
The conflict is the latest example of an ostensibly liberal organization resisting allowing its workers to be represented by a union. Workers at Vox Media were organized earlier this year following a sometimes bitter campaign. Workers at Media Matters of America were organized in 2014 following a similarly bitter organizing effort in which the workers said they felt “betrayed” by their employer’s opposition. SEIU has also sought to represent the Council for American-Islamic Relations and alleged the civil rights group management has fought those efforts.
According to documents filed with the National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency that oversees elections, SEIU Local 105 first filed to represent Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains’ workers in September. A filing of this nature typically indicates that management had rejected the union’s initial claim to have majority support of its workers.
In January, the NLRB general counsel certified the union as the workers’ representative. Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains later that month requested that full board review the election. “PPRM seeks review of the (regional director’s) Decision because of the inappropriate exclusion of employees designated as clinical staff at PPRM’s Alamosa, Durango, Cortez, and Salida, Colorado; Farmington and Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Las Vegas, Nevada facilities from the bargaining unit,” it stated.
Unions and management often clash in elections over which workers should be eligible to vote on collective bargaining. Both sides typically seek to include more workers likely to vote their way and to exclude the ones who likely won’t.
In a 2-1 vote last month a three-member NLRB panel voted to grant Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains’ request for review of the election.
A spokesperson for Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains or SEIU Local 105 could not be reached for comment.
