SEIU Local 503 organizes six more nursing homes in Oregon


By DON McINTOSH, Associate Editor

Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 503 has begun a second wave of union organizing at Oregon nursing homes.

In April, workers voted in the union at six out of nine nursing homes SEIU tried to unionize. Since those votes, SEIU has petitioned to represent workers at five other nursing homes, with elections likely in late May or June.

In an earlier wave in late 2003, SEIU won 14 out of 15 union elections. It took a little over a year, but SEIU was able to negotiate contracts at 11 of those nursing homes. Of the other three, the union withdrew from two, and lost a recertification election.

As of now, the 11 recently-signed contracts cover as many as 500 workers, including certified nurse assistants, housekeeping and food service workers. Workers had been earning $8 to $11 an hour. Under the new contracts, most workers got raises of about 65 cents an hour, and will get increases of 3 to 6 percent a year for the next two years, depending on nursing home revenues. The contracts also include seniority rights, a grievance procedure and protections against arbitrary discipline.

Local 503’s success in quickly unionizing nursing homes owes a lot to a deal worked out with the nursing home industry association before the start of the campaign.

SEIU approached the Oregon Health Care Association in 2002 and offered political support for a new funding mechanism. Combining their political clout, they were able to get the Oregon Legislature to approve a tax on nursing homes to create a pool of money that would then be matched by the federal government.

In return for that political support, SEIU got a promise that the four biggest nursing home chains would adopt a neutral stance toward unionizing. The four chains are Avamere Health Services, Evergreen Oregon Health Care, Marquis Senior Care and Prestige Care.

It appears that at least three of the four companies have honored the deal.

SEIU’s agreement with the association, which lasts until September 2005, stipulates that neither side may criticize the other. Accordingly, no union staffperson contacted by the Northwest Labor Press was willing to say anything critical of any of the four companies. But the union success rate varied greatly company by company.

At Marquis Senior Care, of the six locations SEIU attempted to unionize, none are unionized. SEIU lost three elections outright, and cancelled a fourth. Of the two locations where it won election, the union was unable to get a contract, withdrawing from one and losing a recertification vote at the other. Marquis president Phillip Fogg Jr. said he considers the neutrality agreement still in effect, but added that Marquis employees had so far chosen not to join the union.

In contrast, at Evergreen Oregon Health Care, SEIU won election by large margins at all eight locations and successfully negotiated contracts at the four sites unionized in the first wave.

At Avamere Health Services, SEIU won five of six elections and got contracts at all three of the first-wave locations. At one location, a decertification petition filed by anti-union workers was later withdrawn.

At Prestige Care, the union won five elections and defeated two decertification attempts. It was able to conclude contracts at four locations, and withdrew from the fifth. Five more Prestige Care units are scheduled to hold union elections in May or June: Molalla Manor Care Center in Molalla; Creswell Care Center in Creswell; Chehalem Health and Rehabilitation in Newberg; Timberview Care Center in Albany; and Camelot Care Center in Forest Grove.

Prior to the recent drive, SEIU represented one independently owned nursing home — Meadow Park Health & Specialty in St. Helens.

After the 2003 wave of organizing, the campaign slowed as the union focused its efforts on the November 2004 election.

SEIU made two failed attempts last fall to unionize nursing homes that were not part of the neutrality agreement. Union organizers said management waged a classic anti-union campaign at both sites: Crestview Nursing & Rehabilitation in Portland, part of the Touchmark nursing home chain; and the independent Keizer Retirement & Health Care Village, since bought by Avamere. The two nursing homes started as “hot shops,” workplaces where workers were eager to unionize. But they ended up remaining non-union after management struck back with anti-union literature and mandatory anti-union meetings.

Union leaders see those defeats as good examples of how difficult it can be to unionize under U.S. labor laws — even where there is an initial majority of support for the union among workers. That’s why SEIU sought to leap over the usual legal obstacles by getting the four companies to make some agreements in advance.

At first, SEIU’s partnership with the nursing home companies dealt with nearly every aspect of the union drive: how, where and when elections would be conducted, and how and when bargaining would take place. Rather than go through the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), elections were to be supervised by the American Arbitration Association (AAA). Bargaining was to be expedited because key provisions like union security, management rights and a no-strike clause would be agreed to in advance, while disagreements were subject to arbitration.

The 2003 set of union elections were overseen by the AAA.

But a pattern of legal decisions by the NLRB put a substantial crimp into that agreement, said Local 503 Executive Director Leslie Frane. Dominated by Bush Administration appointees, the NLRB has limited unions’ ability to use non-traditional means to organize. Concerned that parts of the unorthodox partnership might not withstand legal challenge, SEIU reverted to traditional methods.

Portions of the partnership agreement still stand, however, including the commitment to stay neutral during union campaigns and to limit legal maneuvers that delay elections.

Altogether, out of about 150 nursing homes in Oregon, SEIU now represents 18. It seeks to represent the entire industry.

“We want nursing home workers to be able to take their kids to the doctor when they’re sick, and pay their rent on time,” said lead organizer Andrew Barnes.


Home | About

© Oregon Labor Press Publishing Co. Inc.