Could a new contract be coming? Planned Parenthood and workers set to return to the table.

Bitterly cold temperatures Tuesday morning did not keep about a dozen workers from the Susan Knapp Health Center from picketing in support of its first-ever contract with Planned Parenthood North Central States (PPNCS).

The union, organized in July 2022, has been in a stalemate with Planned Parenthood for more than a year despite having met 32 times to hash out the contract. The two sides return to the table on Wednesday to try again.

Frustrated by the inability to get a contract, Planned Parenthood employees picketed at clinics in Des Moines, Omaha, Nebraska, and Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota. The workers are represented by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Healthcare Minnesota & Iowa that includes nearly 50,000 health care and long-term care workers in hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and home care throughout both states.

If a new contract cannot be forged, a strike could occur even though an official vote of the membership to do that has not occurred, said Phillip Cryan, executive vice president of SEIU Minnesota & Iowa. The SEIU has a strike fund available for workers should they decide to go out, he said.

Cryan said “the powerful collective voice” from an organized workforce is the key to moving salaries up in places where nursing wages have lagged, pointing to 2022 when the 15,000-member Minnesota Nurses Association threatened a long strike and were able to negotiate 17% wages increases over three years.

“So it does make a difference as we saw with UAW (United Auto Workers), the Hollywood writers (Writers Guild of America) and the Teamsters with UPS,” Cryan said.

In addition to seeking higher wages, the picketers also protested what they called unfair labor practices.

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Planned Parenthood denies union busting

Shouting "Union busting is disgusting!", union officials say demonstrations also took place Tuesday to raise public awareness of how Planned Parenthood North Central States is intimidating the 14 members of the union's bargaining team.

They say Planned Parenthood leadership had illegally surveilled the bargaining team by obtaining a copy of a private Signal chat among the members last March. As a result, one member — Grace Larson, a licensed practical nurse in Minnesota — was fired, they say.

All other members received a final written warning on their employee records, meaning they could be fired for any infraction. Those employees say they have not been given a reason why they were disciplined.

SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa alleges bargaining team members faced disciplinary actions as part of Planned Parenthood's union-busting efforts. The organization has filed charges against Planned Parenthood with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

Planned Parenthood officials have pushed back on those allegations, pointing out that a formal resolution to one of the union's complaints made it clear that the basis for the discipline of all bargaining team members was misconduct. However, the charges regarding Larson's abrupt termination are still pending with the board.

"The union, as a participant, agreed to publicly apologize in June of this year for their failure to take action to prevent this misconduct," Molly Gage, vice president of human resources at Planned Parenthood North Central States, said in a statement. "We continue to remain committed to the formal complaint process with the NLRB as they investigate the unfair labor practice complaint related to Grace Larson’s termination."

Gage said Planned Parenthood is committed to working in good faith with union members throughout the negotiation process.

"PPNCS is not, has not, and will not participate in any union busting activities," Gage said in a statement. "No staff have been disciplined or fired by PPNCS for union organizing, however, unions are not designed to be a shield for misconduct. We remain committed to bargaining in good faith to reach a fair and balanced contract for our unionized employees."

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With rising insurance costs, biggest issue is wages

Approximately 400 frontline health care workers are covered by the bargaining unit at Planned Parenthood clinics in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. There are about 30 employees at the clinic in Des Moines, Jennifer Wilsbacher, a physician’s assistant at the Susan Knapp clinic, said while on the picket line Tuesday.

The biggest stumbling block, according to union officials, has been wages. Staring down a 12% increase in health insurance premiums in 2024, workers are seeking salary boosts to offset the rising insurance costs.

“I just know that we have another (negotiating) session tomorrow and we're really hoping that some of this pressure creates some movement on the bargaining team because we've not seen substantial movement in quite some time now,” said Wilsbacher.

Wilsbacher said a lot of the employees have had to opt for the lowest health insurance option because of cost, leaving them with “huge deductibles and huge out-of-pocket” expenses.

"As we work to reach agreement on remaining items, Planned Parenthood North Central States is committed to creating a robust and competitive benefits package that will attract and retain staff, within a structure that is equitable and sustainable," Gage said in her statement.

There is some room for optimism going into Wednesday’s negotiation session, said Cryan.

Cryan said the chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood sent an email to employees Monday night that was “an encouraging sort of message.”

“But you know, that’s just an email. What will matter is what they show up with in terms of a proposal,” said Cryan.

Cryan said much of the language of the contract has been agreed to by both parties.

“And now we are down to the big expensive parts of the contract,” said Cryan.

The “big expensive parts” have been the stumbling block to reaching a contract agreement for more than a year.

Cryan said the union is pushing for a new wage scale where people earn additional pay based on years of experience with Planned Parenthood as well as significant raises on the wage scale.

“That is the kind of top priority demand and the second highest demand that we are fighting over right now is truly affordable health insurance,” Cryan said.

Affordable health insurance is of particular concern for workers with dependents because of the cost to add them to the policy, Cryan said.

“We actually we have lots of members who have children and/or a spouse who don't take the coverage because the dependent coverage is so expensive,” Cryan said.

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Fear of staff departures if an agreement isn't reached

Wilsbacher said she and others fear losing more workers if an equitable agreement can’t be reached soon. She said Planned Parenthood North Central States had a 44% turnover rate between June of 2021 and June of 2023.

“I really hope we can get somewhere because I know that there are staff members that might not be able to stay long term If we don't get some movement and I think that is the saddest part because we all love what we do and that’s serving our patients,” said Wilsbacher.

Cryan agrees that the dedication of the Planned Parenthood workers to their patients has been used against them with management knowing how reluctant the employees are to disrupt patient services.

“People choose to work for Planned Parenthood because they believe in their hearts and in their souls in the mission of the organization, and they care so much for the patients that they take care of every day. The pay and benefits that they get for doing that work are so much lower than similar jobs in health care that they could choose to leave Planned Parenthood tomorrow and get a 10% to 20% wage increase by just working for another health care, hospital or clinic system.

“And is that being taken advantage of? I think so and you know that is part of why the workers organized and that what we’re fighting to address through collective bargaining,” Cryan said.

Kevin Baskins covers jobs and the economy for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at kbaskins@registermedia.com.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa Planned Parenthood workers picket for higher wages