SALEM — A group of workers at the Oregon Lottery Commission has been campaigning to unionize with Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 503 — the biggest of the unions representing employees of the State of Oregon. The Lottery is one of the few large state agencies that is still nonunion, and some workers are unhappy with what they see as arbitrary work rules and pay policies. Unlike other state employees, workers at the Lottery have no fixed pay steps or cost-of-living increases.

In mid-November, SEIU turned in a stack of signed union authorization cards to show the union has majority support, and the Oregon Employment Relations Board, which handles union elections among state employees, certified that 156 of 303 eligible workers had signed the cards. Currently, state government rules provide for this “card-check” method of union certification as an alternative to the traditional union election.

The 156 cards represented 51.5 percent — a majority. But after SEIU submitted the cards — and before they were counted — at least seven workers changed their minds and asked for their cards back. That gave Lottery management a rationale to withhold union recognition. Since then, more employees signed cards, and SEIU says it has regained a razorthin majority.

Last month, 133 workers signed an informal petition calling for a union election to be held in order to settle the matter. The petition was signed by both pro- and anti- union workers, with both sides expecting to win.

At press time, pro-union workers planned to meet to discuss their options. 

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