Dosha fires pro-union worker

On Sept. 14, Mary Christ became the first outright casualty of Dosha’s “grind-them-down-and-wait-them-out” anti-union strategy.

Portland-based Dosha is the five-location salon and spa chain whose hair stylists, nail techs and others voted March 30 to unionize. Since then, the company installed a surveillance camera in an employee break room, told workers it was going to act as if the union wasn’t there, and imposed a lower-quality health plan without bargaining with workers, who are members of Communications Workers of America Local 7901.

Those and other charges are being investigated by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Now Christ, a massage therapist, has been terminated, possibly for the crime of wearing red feather earrings, says union president Madelyn Elder. Red is CWA’s color, and pro-union employees sometimes wear the earrings in shows of solidarity; CWA alleges in charges filed Sept. 22 that Christ was fired for her participation in such union activity.