SEIU pulls MN lawmaker’s endorsement over union busting at Planned Parenthood

(SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa photo)

Planned Parenthood workers this week pledged to continue fighting back against an intimidation campaign targeting elected union leaders at the reproductive health organization’s North Central States chapter.

Meanwhile, the Service Employees (SEIU) union announced it had rescinded its endorsement of the Minnesota legislator who serves as the nonprofit’s CEO. 

Over 440 employees of Planned Parenthood North Central States (PPNCS) voted to form a union with SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa in July 2022, and they have been in contract negotiations with management for about eight months. 

While the two sides have made some progress toward a first contract, members of the union’s bargaining team allege that, away from negotiations, they have come under heightened scrutiny from management, resulting in excessive and unwarranted disciplinary measures.  

In February, management placed “final warning” notices in all of the bargaining team members’ personnel files, and in March PPNCS used that warning to fire one member, Grace Larson. 

Now, half of the 14 workers originally elected to serve on the bargaining committee have stepped down or no longer work at PPNCS, union leaders said during a virtual press conference yesterday. Those who remain said they fear a misstep as minor as a time card infraction will cost them their jobs. 

“I fear losing my job and being unable to pay my bills,” PPNCS researcher Shay Gingras said. “And I will continue to hold this fear for as long as I am a PPNCS employee and the final warning remains in my file.  

“I joined the process in order to make a positive difference in the lives of PPNCS employees and patients, and I feel as if I am being punished for this work.” 

The union has filed charges against PPNCS with the National Labor Relations Board. SEIU members and staff, meanwhile, have attempted discussions with management, including CEO Ruth Richardson, a DFL state representative from Mendota Heights, about the chilling effects of targeting union leaders, particularly during negotiations. 

But PPNCS has refused to pull back the final warnings or reinstate Larson, who was fired for sending an email from her private address alleging abusive behavior by an ex-colleague, who was seeking employment with another organization at the time. 

“It was something that I grappled with, and ultimately I still stand by my decision,” Larson, a former PPNCS nurse, said. “Planned Parenthood decided my email was retaliation against a co-worker and terminated me. 

“A union contract could have kept me in the clinic. After years of dedication to this organization, giving my blood, sweat and tears and taking pride in what I do every single day, I’ve been left feeling pushed out and unwanted by people in the organization who didn’t know my name 10 months ago.” 

Executive officers and staff at SEIU Healthcare, which represents workers across the table from powerful and notoriously anti-union employers like Allina and Sanford Health, have never seen firsthand such an aggressive attempt to intimidate union leaders, Executive Vice President Phillip Cryan said. He called it “union busting” on par with campaigns at Starbucks and Amazon. 

“This is a long way off from the kind of pro-worker, progressive approach to their staff union that these workers expected and the labor movement expected when these workers organized last year,” Cryan said, adding that SEIU leadership had given PPNCS, including Richardson, “countless opportunities to walk back these extreme actions” before asking the SEIU Minnesota State Council to rescind its endorsement. 

Richardson did not directly respond to a request for comment on union busting at PPNCS or the SEIU endorsement. But PPNCS issued a statement denying the bargaining team members’ allegations and emphasizing its commitment to completing the negotiations. 

“Planned Parenthood North Central States leadership remains committed to bargaining in good faith with SEIU and remain committed to adhering to the law,” the statement reads. “As we have stated previously, no staff have been disciplined or fired by PPNCS for union organizing, however, unions are not designed to be a shield for misconduct.” 

As the NLRB investigates workers’ charges, SEIU members plan to raise awareness of the increasingly toxic work environment at PPNCS – and demand Larson’s reinstatement – at public rallies across the organization’s five-state jurisdiction. The rallies will also demand accountability from PPNCS leaders regarding a recent decision to close three clinics in Iowa. 

During the press conference, workers said they are hopeful of drawing support from both the reproductive care community and the labor movement.  

“We don’t want to pit abortion rights and workers’ rights against each other, especially right now,” Larson said. 

No other union has pulled its endorsement of Richardson, who has a strong voting record on labor issues and drew praise from labor leaders as a lead author of the new statewide family leave law.  

But the dispute is likely to draw increased attention with the Legislature adjourned. Delegates to the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation last month approved a resolution in support of SEIU’s campaign to hold Richardson accountable for union busting at PPNCS. 

“A CEO who engages in this course of conduct toward the elected leaders of a union and who stands by those decisions and refuses to make any changes to them – even as the actions cause fully half of the union bargaining team to no longer be working for the organization she leads – does not deserve the labor movement’s support,” Cryan said. “She has done some great things as an elected official, but her actions as CEO fly in the face of those accomplishments.”