A wave of unionization is sweeping the US abortion care industry, as burnt-out employees prepare for a major roll back of reproductive rights.
The group Planned Parenthood North Central States United is trying to unionize more than 400 Planned Parenthood workers in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota to address issues like low pay. It’s seeking an election this summer, to get the union officially recognized. The organization is joined by clinic workers in Massachusetts trying to unionize right now, while employees at a major reproductive health care researcher are also looking to organize.
“There’s a general disillusionment with the organization,” Sage Shemroske, who uses the pronoun they and works at a clinic in Minneapolis, said of Planned Parenthood.
Shemroske, who checks in patients and supports clinicians at the front desk, complains of low pay — $18 an hour, up from $16 when they started — and overscheduling. Other employees in the network said in statements late last month that they see a strong divide between front line workers and leadership and said they’re facing burnout. Shemroske says they want to make conditions better to help retain workers amid the broader societal need for maintaining access to reproductive health care.
“I like my job — that’s why I’m unionizing,” Shemroske said. “I feel very passionate for reproductive health and reproductive justice, for being pro-abortion and pro-bodily autonomy. It’s almost a...
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