Workers at the Mental Health Partners crisis and addiction center on Airport Road in Boulder are cheering the results of a successful union election this week.
According to employees, there were 34 votes cast. Thirty of those were counted, and 29 of them, or 97%, were in favor of unionizing. Only one person voted against. The four remaining ballots were challenged and were not counted.
With the vote, the clinic has become the first unionized mental health and substance use facility in the city. It will affiliate with Service Employees International Union Local 105, the largest health care union in the state that represents more than 8,000 workers.
The center, which operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, offers free walk-in services to unhoused individuals, domestic violence survivors, students and others experiencing crises. The detox clinic on-site also serves acutely intoxicated or detoxing clients.
The push to unionize the clinic has been underway for months. Clinicians from the facility previously told the Daily Camera that staffing issues, a possible 10% pay cut and unsafe working conditions created an unsustainable situation they hoped could be addressed through unionizing.
The union election was held via mail-in ballots that were sent out earlier this month, and the results were made public Tuesday afternoon.
Karli McClure, a crisis clinician at the clinic, listened to the election results roll in as she was working. She said she was “absolutely elated” by the outcome and that spirits at the clinic were high.
“The entire process is really empowering for us who work at the crisis center. And I think that now that we’re unionized, it’s going to help us be more supported to better support our community that we love and love serving,” she said
Nate Paer, another crisis clinician from the center who helped organize the union vote, said he is “overjoyed” at the election results.
“I feel really excited, I feel relief, and I just feel a really deep sense of pride in my colleagues,” he said. “We found this way to stand together with a whole lot of care for each other and a lot of heart and (work) together to support each other and to improve services for our clients. I feel a lot of pride and so much gratitude to be working with such incredible people.”
Paer said he and his colleagues plan to celebrate and “catch our breath” after a few intense months of organizing, but they will look to start the bargaining process soon.
A representative from Mental Health Partners, a nonprofit organization with several facilities around Boulder County, confirmed the agency is aware of the vote.
“We highly value our employees and we have always affirmed their right to make a choice freely and fairly about union representation,” the representative said in a written statement. “Mental Health Partners is grateful for all those who voted and exercised their rights in this process and is committed to bargaining in good faith with the union toward a collective bargaining agreement.”
Pryce Batey, a spokesperson for Service Employees International Union, confirmed via email that four of the ballots in the election were challenged due to a worker leaving Mental Health Partners during the voting period and other workers having certain scheduling issues. Batey said these challenges are “very common” during union elections but that, in this case, the four challenged ballots should not affect the results since so many workers voted in favor of unionizing.
The Mental Health Partners representative said the ballots were “challenged by both parties by agreement” and that the organization wants to “ensure the right voices are involved” in union representation.