Oregon Lottery workers file for union election

SALEM — Pro-union workers at the Oregon Lottery Commission are pressing ahead with the traditional route to unionizing. On March 14, they asked the Oregon Employment Relations Board to conduct a union election.

If a majority of the Lottery’s 300 workers vote to join Service Employees International Union Local 503, management would have to recognize the union and negotiate a contract. In mid-November, the union sought recognition on the basis of signed authorization cards, but management declined, saying some workers had changed their minds.

Lottery hotline operator Patricia Paolazzi said workers don’t see the union as a ticket to riches; they just want to have a say, like most of the state’s workers.

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