‘Giving care to caregivers’: Mass. Planned Parenthood employees look to unionize

MARLBOROUGH — Workers at Planned Parenthood clinics in Marlborough, Boston, Worcester and Springfield are looking to unionize, citing the need for better recruitment and retention in the face of ongoing challenges to reproductive rights and abortion access nationwide.

Nearly 200 Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts (PPLM) employees will vote on whether to become members of 1199SEIU, a health care union with members throughout Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Florida and Washington, D.C., according to the union’s website.

The organization is affiliated with the Service Employees International Union, which already represents nearly 1,000 Planned Parenthood workers in New York, Maine, D.C. and Colorado, according to a 1199SEIU press release. The National Labor Relations Board will set a date for the union election.

By uniting, Planned Parenthood workers can ensure they have a voice in their workplace and that those on the frontlines play a role in making decisions to improve their jobs and the care they provide, 1199SEIU Vice President Dana Alas said in an email interview with the Daily News.

“As the pandemic has reinforced, health care workers are essential, and their voices must be valued and respected, especially at a critical moment in our country where reproductive rights are under attack,” she said.

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Magdalena Knysz, a registered nurse who is based at the PPLM clinic in Boston but trains across all four Massachusetts sites, said she and her colleagues look forward to having conversations with management about safe staffing ratios.

“In the MetroWest area, there are incredibly dedicated workers who have been with the organization for years,” Knysz said in an email interview. “What we are hoping to do is work with management to retain the people who are already there and who will continue to provide amazing support for our patients.”

Many of those staff members are parents and “deserve the benefits that they need to continue giving such a high level of care,” she added.

Beret Otero, a PPLM health care assistant in Boston, touched on similar themes in Wednesday’s press release.

“As a parent working for Planned Parenthood, I believe that reproductive justice doesn’t stop at the door: supporting working parents is integral to the mission of Planned Parenthood, which my coworkers and I tirelessly devote ourselves to,” Otero said.

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Planned Parenthood workers are uniting “to ensure an equitable working environment for all current and future employees,” Alas said. “That includes bargaining guaranteed raises, affordable health care, parental leave, improved training and educational opportunities, safer staffing, equity and transparency, and so much more — while upholding the best standard of care.”

In a statement to the Daily News, PPLM President and CEO Dr. Jennifer Childs-Roshak said the organization is in the process of reviewing the 1199SEIU petition and evaluating next steps.

“As an organization that has always prioritized personal choice and agency in people's personal lives, we respect and encourage our staff to exercise the same informed personal choices about their professional lives,” Childs-Roshak said.

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She added: “PPLM is proud to be the leading provider of sexual and reproductive health care in Massachusetts, and our staff are the bedrock of that care. At this pivotal moment for abortion access, we look forward to having these conversations and continuing to support our staff and expand our ability to serve our patients.”

Knysz said the unionization effort ties into one of Planned Parenthood’s slogans, “Care. No matter what.”

“We are giving care to the caregivers,” she said. “Forming a union is a way to make sure that abortion access remains accessible. No matter what.”

Abby Patkin is a multimedia journalist for the Daily News. Follow Abby on Twitter @AMPatkin. She can be reached at apatkin@wickedlocal.com.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts employees to vote on union