Workers at the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts in Boston reached a tentative agreement with management late last week that would immediately raise wages and expand parental leave.
The contract — which has not yet been approved by members — would be the first contract negotiated with a union at the nonprofit, since nearly 200 workers voted to join the 1199SEIU last July. A vote has not yet been scheduled.
Cait Mallery, a Planned Parenthood organizer and union member, told GBH News on Monday that they are “optimistic” the contract will pass. If approved, it will be retroactive to July 2022 and last through December 2025.
“I'm overall just really excited that we have come to a point where this tentative agreement will hopefully reflect greater support for workers at Planned Parenthood so that no one has to struggle to pay rent or struggle to support their kids or put food on the table,” said Mallery. “This agreement is really a reflection of a really long bargaining process through really late hours and long nights and frustrating meetings.”
Bargaining began last October. Organizers at the time cited low staff-to-patient ratios, a desire for guaranteed raises and increased benefits.
If ratified, the new contract includes guaranteed raises in July 2024 and 2025 that would start at 3%. Mallery says that a few dozen workers currently make below the living wage for the Boston area, which is $22.59 per hour, according to data collected by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The new contract also would include eight weeks of parental leave.
“One of the issues that we heard from folks about in the bargaining process was people who had previously had to take extra sick leave in order to have adequate time off after giving birth, which is fairly ironic for Planned Parenthood,” Mallery said.
Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts’ interim CEO, Ellen Frank, said that the organization is “incredibly proud” of the tentative agreement.
“[It] represents a multi-million-dollar investment in our staff, and look forward to continuing the process to finalize it,” Frank told GBH News in a statement. “At a time when turnover and burnout in the health care workforce is at an all-time high and reproductive health care is under unprecedented attacks, this contract is designed to support workers’ well-being and longevity at our organization.”
Union members’ work ranges from providing health care at clinics to research to administrative work at Planned Parenthood’s four state locations in Boston, Worcester, Marlborough and Springfield.
Mallery said that the bargaining process has been bogged down by staff turnover and a labor shortage.
“One of the things that has just been difficult through that process is that there's been a huge amount of burnout of folks who were initially here to mobilize folks to vote for the unionization process,” they said. “I do think part of that has been because of under-resourcing of staff, underpaying staff — especially in the clinic."
A Planned Parenthood spokesperson told GBH News that the organization hopes the tentative agreement will help retain staff, but clarified that the organization currently operates with sufficient staff. Turnover and staffing shortages are a problem across the health care field, the spokesperson said.
Unionization in the health care industry also is becoming more common.
Workers at other regional Planned Parenthoods across the country have already unionized, including in Oregon and Washington, D.C. The Oregon location just ratified its first contract last year.
In Massachusetts, Fenway Health employees announced plans to unionize late last month, as have residents at Boston-area hospitals like Mass General Brigham.
Marlishia Aho, communications director at 1199SEIU, said union members — working with Planned Parenthood leadership — will help “ensure that Massachusetts remains a champion for access and reproductive justice.”
“This is a victory for 1199-ers at Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts,” said Aho. “It also ensures that there’s a seat at the table.”
