Staff at the nonprofit group Street Roots announced Dec. 2 they plan to unionize and asked the group’s board of directors to voluntarily recognize Communications Workers of America Local 7901 as their representative — within two days.
“We believe a union will strengthen Street Roots by democratizing processes directly impacting our workplace and community,” said a collective statement by the union. The union will promote pay equity, adequate staffing, and safety measures. The announcement had the support of all 15 staff.
Street Roots’ board responded to the union recognition demand with a request for a week to think it over. At that point Local 7901 went ahead and petitioned the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to hold an election to prove there’s majority union support. Responding to the NLRB filing Dec. 12, Street Roots said it wouldn’t voluntarily recognize the union because one of the 15 members of the proposed bargaining unit is editor-in-chief K. Rambo. Rambo is in management and therefore not eligible to be union represented, Street Roots told the NLRB. The NLRB set an election date of Jan. 7 and can resolve the question of eligibility later.
Street Roots is best known as the publisher of a weekly newspaper sold for $1 by homeless and low-income Portlanders, but it’s also an advocacy and service organization. The group is thriving and recently relocated to a new $8 million building on the corner of West Burnside and Third Avenue that combines newspaper office space with showers and laundry services for vendors.
CWA Local 7901 has about 300 members, including workers at AT&T and a dozen and half small employers, mostly nonprofit organizations.
The push by Street Roots workers to join Local 7901 coincides with the departure of the group’s executive director Kaia Sand. Sand had been out on leave since Oct. 31, and officially resigned Dec. 6 after seven years leading the organization.
Local 7901 president Meg Ward said there’s been interest in the union at Street Roots for over a year, but the campaign came together over the course of a month. Workers used a handbook for nonprofit workers who are looking to unionize, which Ward co-drafted with her coworkers at the environmental nonprofit Breach Collective and with Denver CWA organizer Isabel Aries. The handbook is available at organizeyour.org/handbook.
Workers hope with a union they can win increased transparency, better and more consistent job descriptions and workload, and improved safety at the office, Ward told the Labor Press.
UPDATES: Follow the Street Roots union effort at instagram.com/streetrootsguild.
