A majority of Planned Parenthood workers in Minnesota and Iowa voted to unionize and join the health care unit of the Service Employees International Union, official announced Thursday.
Organizing the union vote took 14 months. Voting by employees from Planned Parenthood North Central States offices in Minnesota and Iowa started three weeks ago.
Molly Gage, human resources vice president of the Planned Parenthood unit, said in a statement the nonprofit welcomes the SEIU Healthcare as the representative of bargaining unit employees.
"At a time when reproductive rights and the freedom of bodily autonomy are under intense attack, we will work with SEIU to support our employees, and to strengthen public policy, and improve access to abortion and all sexual and reproductive health care and education," Gage wrote.
Final election results were counted and reported Thursday by the National Labor Relations Board. Of the 429 employees eligible to vote, 238 voted to unionize; 26 voted no.
Going forward, nurses, aides, pharmacists, administrators and other employees of Planned Parenthood in Minnesota and Iowa will need to craft and bargain a labor contract. Key concerns among members are long hours, insufficient staff, excessive turnover and wages that lag behind neighboring hospitals and clinics.
During a news conference Thursday, several workers said Planned Parenthood froze their merit pay when the pandemic began.
Unionizing efforts intensified during the pandemic and after the Supreme Court nullified Roe v. Wade in June, they said.
