Twin Cities, Midwest Planned Parenthoods facing unfair labor practices allegations

Planned Parenthood locations in the Twin Cities and Midwest are allegedly targeting union employees with harassment, surveillance and even firing, according to an unfair labor practices complaint filed last week with the National Labor Relations Board.

Planned Parenthood, one of the few abortion care providers in the state, has denied any wrongdoing.

In a press conference Monday, officials with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) said Planned Parenthood has targeted employees who are members of the bargaining committee with extreme disciplinary action since employees voted to form a union in July.

"Every single member of the [12-member] elected bargaining team selected by their coworkers to represent them in first contract negotiations has received a severe and highly unusual form of discipline," said Philip Cryan, executive vice president of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa.

The 12 bargaining-committee members were put "under investigation," per Cryan, and given notice they had allegedly breached a confidentiality, the nature of which Planned Parenthood did not disclose to them. The members were then told Planned Parenthood would fire them if they violated any other rules or policies stated in the employee handbook or code of ethics, Cryan said.

This appears "to be clear union busting activity," said Cryan, who also serves as the chief negotiator on the bargaining committee representing 403 Planned Parenthood North Central States workers in five northern states, including Minnesota.

After months of complaints about staffing shortages, the lack of breaks and difficult working conditions, Planned Parenthood workers voted to unionize in July. They began meeting with managers to reach an initial labor contract starting around October. But negotiations have been contentious.

SEIU officials alleged in last week's NLRB filing Planned Parenthood unfairly terminated and disciplined union members and also subjected them to surveillance through six months.

The formal NLRB complaint came Thursday, two days after the organization sacked licensed nurse practitioner Grace Larson on March 28. The nurse worked at Planned Parenthood clinics in St. Paul and Minneapolis for two years and never had trouble at work until she joined the union and its bargaining committee, she said.

Planned Parenthood denied Larson's firing was union related.

"The allegations regarding Grace Larson's termination are simply not true. Planned Parenthood North Central States has not, and will not, fire or discipline staff because of their union involvement. Nor will we comment publicly on individual personnel matters," wrote Planned Parenthood human resources vice president Molly Gage in an email.

In an interview Monday, however, Larson said she believes the opposite.. Larson said managers explained her firing was for telling a person who worked at an unrelated organization about an incident in which a Planned Parenthood co-worker allegedly slapped another co-worker while at work.

Larson said she was caught off guard about any reprimand because she shared the information in a private email during non-work hours. She noted how two days after she sent the email, Planned Parenthood notified her she was "under investigation" for alleged "retaliation,"and fired hershortly thereafter.

Larson, who graduated from Hennepin Technical College in Eden Prairie in 2020, is now working with a recruiting firm to secure another nursing position with a non-profit. She said she is speaking publicly about her experiences to help other workers stand up for their rights, she said.

Ashley Schmidt, a training and development specialist for Planned Parenthood in Nebraska and Iowa, is on the union bargaining committee and has been coming to St. Paul for negotiations since the fall.

"I definitely felt targeted ever since I started doing the [press events] for the union," Schmidt said. "That is when we got these targets on our backs. My experience before and after joining the union are completely different."

A few months ago, she had a difficult exchange with an assistant co-worker about how they were treating a patient. The co-worker complained to management, she said.

Schmidt noted that days later, a manager accidentally copied her on an email. The email informed her that her boss' supervisor insisted on her termination before any questions arose or an investigation took place. Schmidt said the union insisted on an investigation, which found she did nothing wrong.

She kept her job but said, "Everyone is walking on eggshells."