A unit of 103 workers at nonprofit Sequoia Mental Health Services has joined AFSCME Local 1790 after a year-long organizing effort. The June 1 vote was 47-24 in favor of the union.
Sequoia workers provide counseling and other help in treatment clinics in Aloha and Hillsboro and in residential treatment group homes. Sequoia clients have typically experienced some form of psychosis in the past six months, sometimes daily.
AFSCME Local 1790 represents behavioral health (mental illness and addiction treatment) workers at Cascadia, Outside In, Janus Youth, New Avenues for Youth, Lines for Life, JOIN, and Fora Health.
The newly unionized unit includes therapists, doctors, and administrators at Sequoia, as well as case managers who connect clients to community services, deliver medication, and teach coping techniques.
The work can be dangerous. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in 2015 that psychiatric aides and technicians suffer workplace violence at 69 times the rate of the overall workforce.
Kai-Ave Douvia, a community integration specialist at Sequoia, said workers are concerned about safety. They’re also having trouble meeting productivity benchmarks without finishing up case notes after hours. Turning in notes late can result in write-ups, personal improvement plans, even firing.
“We wanted a contract that made everything clear, so no longer would we be living in a gray zone while at work,” Douvia told the Labor Press.
After the workers filed for a union election with the NLRB on April 17, a management-led anti-union effort began. Workers were invited to a union avoidance meeting led by the CEO and head of HR.
And workers began receiving emails from co-workers with what appeared to be scripted anti-union talking points. Union organizing committee members suspected anti-union co-workers were being coached on what to say, and an all-staff April 23 email shared with the Labor Press seems to bear that out. The email from an administrative support specialist is addressed to HR manager Kamie Owens but appears to have been accidentally sent to all staff. The email praises Sequoia for its “small community” atmosphere — a place where managers “know how many kids we have” and where the executive director buys you donuts. But the subject line reads “FW: Union FAQ-Please preview before I send out to all staff” — suggesting the worker was conferring with management about her message to coworkers.
Related