THE LAURELHURST VILLAGE nursing home cares for hundreds of
old folks right in the heart of Portland’s most progressive
neighborhoods: the brick building towers on SE Stark between Sunnyside
and Laurelhurst. But workers inside the facility say the nursing home
management has recently launched a campaign that would shock neighbors.
According to staff, Laurelhurst Village is stamping out a fledgling
union, culminating in the firing of a former employee of the
month-turned-union organizer named Elizabeth Lehr.
Lehr is a petite redhead who worked as the receptionist at
Laurelhurst for almost two years before the director fired her on April
2. Ten days earlier, Lehr had signed her union card, pledging support
for the Service Employees International Union, Local 503 (SEIU).
“I was really well liked there, I knew everyone’s name. I think they
were threatened that I was part of the union,” says Lehr, who filed a
complaint with the National Labor Relations Board two weeks ago. “I was
organizing because I love my job. I want to go back.”
The attempt to unionize Laurelhurst Village and the alleged pushback
from management gives a glimpse into the lives of an often overlooked
group of workers. Nursing is traditionally a low-paid, female-dominated
job demanding long hours and intense physical and emotional work.
Andrea Glaser, a certified nursing assistant (CNA) at Laurelhurst
Village, says 90 percent of her coworkers are female, many of them
immigrants.
“The job is seen as expendable, supervisors don’t listen,” says
Glaser, who is exhausted after getting five elderly patients out of
bed, bathed, and dressed for breakfast before 8:30 am each morning.
According to Glaser, hourly wages for CNAs at Laurelhurst start at
$11.50 an hour. At Oregon’s 26 union facilities (just a small chunk of
Oregon’s 143 nursing homes) starting wage for the same job is $15,
according to the SEIU. The healthcare offered for low-level workers at
Laurelhurst is so poor that many decide it is pointless to enroll.
Glaser says supervisors have repeatedly dismissed her concerns that
CNAs are working with too many patients for too little money.
“A lot of people in nursing homes have very little voice and the
people who provide the care for them also have very little voice,” says
Glaser.
“I’ve never been a pro- or anti-union person, but this seemed like
our best chance. The management of that facility has fallen through on
every promise that they made,” says Lehr. A year after being chosen as
Laurelhurst’s employee of the month, Lehr signed up with the SEIU,
hoping that collective action could win low-level employees better
conditions. “The patients see us more than their families. They need to
see that we’re taken care of and happy,” she says.
While off shift, Lehr and Glaser came into work on April 1 to post a
notice in the break room about a union meeting. A manager spotted them
and asked them to leave. When the pair refused, Lehr’s managers took a
different approach. The next day, Lehr says she was called into
Director of Operations Hannah Austin’s office and summarily fired for
insubordination and allegedly stealing coworkers’ contact
information—a claim Lehr says is completely fabricated.
“They knew I wasn’t scared of them,” she says. “The minute I began
to speak up for myself, they tossed me out the door.”
Days later, coworkers within Laurelhurst Village put up bright blue
signs demanding “democracy in our workplace,” quoting 10 employees who
disagreed with the firing.
“It’s obvious Elizabeth got fired because of her support for the
union,” reads a quote from worker Tomas Olivera. Sources say management
called in all the workers on the flier for questioning and removed the
signs.
Austin would not comment on this story, which she said was about
“personnel matters,” but denies that the nursing home retaliated
against any employees for union activity or took down the protest
posters.
While some workers put on a brave face, the union says Lehr’s firing
has left its campaign “stone cold.” Over 70 Laurelhurst employees
signed up with the SEIU in the month before Lehr’s firing. Only three
have joined in the month after.
I admire Elizabeth’s courage in standing up for herself and the residents she cares for. It is a shame that she is being punished for exercising her rights. I hope that lawmakers will listen to her story and vote in support of the employee free choice act. Workers should be left alone to make their own decisions without fear and intimidation.
“I was organizing because I love my job. I want to go back.” I know that is a false statement. Elizabeth made numerous statements to me and other employees about how tired of her job she was and how she wanted to quit.
If she truly was fired for union activity then why is it that none of the other known union organizers or 70 other union supporters have not been fired or disiplined??? Clearly this is a one sided story…
Anonomous, then I’m sure you’ll be calling up the reporter to give her your name and your side of the story. I’m betting she’ll take your call. Just pick up the phone.
I won’t hold my breath.
And why, Demondog, would anyone Want to give their name on a comment within this ridiculously one-sided article when all it will bring is harrassment from so-called supporters of better conditions for their fellow co-workers. Union organizers have gotten out of hand in their ‘tactics’ to gain support. Harrasing employees, including managers and the Director does not make the union look appealing to anyone.
Here we go! Having fired this courageous young woman for having the temerity to speak up for patients, fellow workers and herself, the goons who are in charge at Laurelhurst Village are now orchestrating a defamation campaign. It won’t work, friends.
@anonymouse:
Maybe she was tired of her job and wanted to quit because of the issues that could be resolved through unionization.
People that really want to quit their job usually, you know, quit their job. And get another. They don’t do groundwork for the SEIU, sign up 70 employees, and then go to the newspaper when they get canned the day after posting a union flyer. That’s a weird way to quit, even for Portland.
I don’t know all the facts in this case, but the Mercury has laid out some fairly damaging facts that I have yet to see rebutted. And no, “this is a one-sided story…” and generic “unions are thugs” don’t constitute a rebuttal.
Union organizers have gotten out of hand in their ‘tactics’ to gain support.
I know, RIGHT? Posting *flyers* on BB boards? *Signing* cards?! Trying to talk back during an exit interview?! Anarchists!
Harrasing employees, including managers and the Director does not make the union look appealing to anyone.
So the folks that signed on with the SEIU must have thought it was the sign-up for the Friday Potluck?
God this site sucks.
I definatly agree that the union reps are harrassing people, and border line stalking people. It’s a shame what it’s done to Elizabeth. It’s almost like a cult got a hold of her and brain washed her. I have also heard Elizabeth numerous times that she hates her job. And when the residents are in the lobby drinking coffee, I’ve heard her say she wishes the residents would go back upstairs because they were driving her crazy. That doesn’t sound like she loves and cares for the residents to me. It’s ok that she wants to join a union and be apart of something, but she really needs to be honest, and right now she’s not being very truthful.
Hi, this is elizabeth… thank you to all who have expressed support for me and moreover, for the union campaign and workers at Laurelhurst!
To the co-worker(s) who posted, i’m not sure who you are, but it would be really interesting to talk to you about how you feel about our union campaign since you seem to have had a negative impression of it and seem concerned and confused about the details of my termination from LV. You can e-mail me at lehrelizabeth@gmail.com or if you have my number, give me a call (you can always get my number from Andrea or one of the other organizing committee members). I’d really like to hear what you have to say.
More to prove my point that Elizabeth is not being truthful, she says shes so worried about how she’s going to pay next months rent, but she can spend all day long stalking LV from across the street. That’s not going to get her rent paid. What kind of message are you sending by harrassing people coming to see their grandmothers and mothers on mothers day? My question to Elizabeth is, why didn’t you say anything about all this mistreatment that goes on at LV when you worked there?
More to prove my point that Elizabeth is not being truthful, she says she’s so worried about how she’s going to pay next months rent, but she can spend all day long stalking LV from across the street. That’s not going to get her rent paid. What kind of message are you sending by harrassing people coming to see their mothers and grandmothers on mothers day? My question to Elizabeth is, why didn’t you say anything about all this mistreatment that goes on at LV when you worked there? You care so much about the residents, why wouldn’t you report it?
I am a former manager at Laurelhurst Village (Today was my last day). My leaving had to do with personal reasons and nothing to do with the union activity or anything that happened with Elizabeth. In reading the posts I can say that there is alot of truth on both sides. Yes it is a two-sided story. I agree whole heartedly that conditions for all of the workers at LHV need to improve. I have also been a memeber of a union, and worked as part of a team of employees who were considering unionizing in a small company. I am not sure that a union is necessarily going to get everyone what they want, but I admit that I don’t have all of the facts. That will be a personal decision for each employee to make. I do totally support and respect employee’s right to organize. Hannah has only been the director since January, and alot of the anger and problems originated and festered long before she arrived. I do know that Hannah Austin is working on improving wages and benefits for workers. A fact that she has shared with employees in detail, but no one seems interested talking about that. That would be one side of the story that hasn’t been mentioned. In April a town hall meeting was held in which all employees were invited to voice concerns and changes that they would like to see. I was off-site with residents the day it was held, but my understanding is that although people showed up, very few chose to say anything. While I totally understand why, after years of being mistreated, employees would be hesitant to speak up in a public forum, the opportunity was presented. The problem as I see it is that everyone on both sides seems to be choosing to take the path that has the most drama as opposed to the path that would actually solve problems. As managers we have been given very strict criteria about what can and can’t be said about union organizing. In short we cannot in any way retaliate or do or say anything that sounds like retaliation. I personally am pro-union. I have been pretty vocal about that and have not felt threatend in any way. And truthfully I haven’t heard anyone in management actually say anything against the union. But I think that employees are viewing unionizing as a magic bullet that will solve problems, that could be solved by communication, but that is just my opinion. I like Elizabeth alot and I was very sorry to see her go. I will say that at the very least I feel that her behavior in one of the incidents mentioned in the article (that I was present for) was unprofessional and more disruptive than maybe she is willing to admit. It was dramatic and unnecessary, and it simply went too far. Is it grounds for termination? Unfortunately, yeah it is. Insubordination is grounds for termination on any job. I’m glad that she stood by her principles, but the fact is she took a risk and those are the consequences. I flat out do not believe the story about her stealing employee information. I know her to be very ethical and honest and so I have no idea what to say about that. I do think that employees have the right and the responsibility to protect themselves financially and otherwise in the workplace. I wish everyone all the best and I hope that this can turn out positive. But right now it isn’t a much more than a lot of name calling and accusations on both sides, which unfortunately isn’t serving either side very well. Oh by the way, I have nothing to lose and nothing to hide, so before anyone decides to attack me the way you attacked my co-worker who posted earlier, I will gladly sign my name.
RaChelle Schmidt
This story is a small glimmer of good news in this dark world. If i could only frame what the death of a union looked like… I would mount it above my fireplace.
I have been in the field locally for years now taking care of the MRDD population Mentally Retarded Developmentally Disabled and homeless. Common job duties involve administering medication (pills, shots, ointments- lots of ointments), bathing adults and changing adult diapers, cleaning up bodily fluids, and dealing with “behaviours” (violence). The article states that employees receive $11/hour- most places people work at below $10- places I have worked pay either $8.50 or $9.25 to handle these problems. One place I worked had an 80% attrition rate meaning that 4 out of 5 employees quit after working for a brief period- and this is one of a large respected local company. That is for hourly employees- managers are often actively work over 60-80 hours weekly are on non-paid call 24/7 and make less than 30k a year- all this means is that $15 an hour is well deserved but about $5 more than most people get paid in this line of work.
“We had been complaining about how hot it was for years, but management refused to buy a fan or install air conditioning because it was “too expensive.” At the same time, our store was pulling in $30,000 a week.
“One morning, four of my coworkers walked into the back room of our store and gave the boss an ultimatum: “Will you buy the store a fan? Yes or no?” He stalled….so my four coworkers walked off the job, got in a car and drove to Target, leaving the boss to cover the floor. He was livid.
“About 20 minutes later, my coworkers walked back in with a $14 box fan. They plugged it in, wrote “Courtesy of the IWW,” drew a small black “Sabotage cat” [the IWW logo] on it, and enjoyed the breeze.
“This left management with a choice. They could either remove the fan, in which case they would look like jerks. Or they could leave it there, as a monument to their own negligence.
“To their credit, they did the right thing. Two days later, the district manager arrived with a $150 industrial floor fan. Two weeks later, they began installing air conditioning. This is the power of direct action. One week, $40 is too much to spend to bring the temperature in the store to within OSHA standards. The next week, management is spending $10,000 to keep the workers happy. “
http://socialistworker.org/2009/04/17/stan…
The fucks running a nursing home in Pittsburgh tried to pull the exact same shit to my mother when she tried to organize. Just as my mother won 10 years ago, Elizabeth Lehr will win. I even called Laurelhurst Village and left a message for Hannah Austin saying that. Thank you Portland Mercury for this article.
Well, I feel the need to comment again because it really makes me angry that Elizabeth is trying to make this whole thing sound like she had nothing to do with what’s going on in her life right now. She says she can’t pay her rent now because she was fired, well how much rent could she really have paid working only two days a week? Two days that she dreaded every week. She ALWAYS said the 5 days she was away from the whining, complaining residents wasn’t enough. She also says the reason some of the people have dropped out of supporting the union was because they were affraid of losing their jobs. Well, I have heard from 3 people personally, the reason they backed away was because of the way the union has been harassing people at their homes. If that’s the way you do your business, of course people aren’t going to want to be a part of it. You say people say no to the union out of fear of losing their jobs, I say people say yes to the union because they’re tired of you stalking them, and if they say yes you’ll leave them alone.
Old news perhaps,but my mother in law is a resident at LV. Since Kaiser has its own network that they will pay for, lowball operations get favorable treatment. LVs staff is overworked,and largely underpaid. My initial frustrations were with staff,but I see a larger effort by management to keep costs low, regardless of the impact on patient care. Were it my choice, I would not allow my dog in there. Unfortunately, since M in Law is a Kaiser patient, we have fewer options.
Its enough to get me to leave Kaiser. Too late for M in Law.