It Could Happen Here - When Care Workers Organize

Episode Date: April 14, 2025

Mia talks with Jess and Jesus from Friends PDX Union Network about their work mentoring underprivileged youth at Friends of the Children and their unionization efforts. https://www.instagram.com/friendspdxunionnetwork/ https://friendspdx.org/donate Better Offline & Weird Little Guys are nominated for this year’s Webby Awards! Get your votes in by April 17th! 🗳️🗳️🗳️https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2025/podcasts/individual-episode/businesshttps://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2025/podcasts/individual-episode/crime-justiceSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I'm Israel Gutierrez and I'm hosting a new podcast, Dub Dynasty, the story of how the Golden State Warriors have dominated the NBA for over a decade. The Golden State Warriors once again are NBA champions. Today, the Warriors dynasty remains alive in large part because of a scrawny 6'2 hooper who everyone seems to love. For what Steph has done for the game, he's certainly on that Mount Rushmore. Come revisit this magical warrior's ride. Listen to Dub Dynasty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey kids, it's me, Kevin Smith.

And it's me, Harley Quinn Smith. That's my daughter, man, who my wife has always said is just a beardless, d***less version of me. And that's the name of our podcast, Beardless, D***less Me. I'm the old one. I'm the young one. And every week we try to make each other laugh really hard. Sounds innocent, doesn't it?

A lot of cussing, a lot of bad language. It's for adults only. Or listen to it with your kid. It could be a family show. We're not quite sure. We're still figuring it out. It's a work in progress. Listen to Beardless, D***less Me on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever.

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A podcast! a very extra way of saying a podcast. Listen to Locatora Radio Season 10 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey everybody, Robert here. I wanted to let you know that two of our hosts, Ed Zitron of Better Offline and Molly Conger of Weird Little Guys, are in the running to win the Webbies right now, or to win Webbies in their respective categories. If you just Google their names, Edzitron, Webby, W-E-B-B-Y, or Molly Conger, Webby, you can find them and vote for them.

There will be links in the show notes as well, so if you'll put them in, so please do vote for them. Welcome, Jake. It happened here, a podcast that asks the question, what happens when the people who are trying to help put things back together are also being exploited in the process. I am your host, Mia Wong, and today we are going to be talking about a union that is attempting to do exactly that.

And with me to discuss this are Jess and Jesus, who are mentors for Friends of the Children PDX, and members of the Friends PDX Union Network. Yeah, Jess, Jesus, are mentors for Friends of the Children PDX and members of the Friends PDX Union Network. Yeah, Jess, Jesus, welcome to the show. Thank you so much for having us. Yeah, thank you. Yeah, I'm really happy to talk to you both because I think this is a very, very unique and interesting union, especially, you know, talk about especially right now, but to get people sort of rolling. Can you explain what Friends of the Children is and

what it is that you two do? Yeah. So, Friends of the Children is a national organization. It's a nonprofit, but there are individual chapters throughout different cities. We work out of Portland, which is the founding chapter and also the largest one. Some of the language I'll say that is used from the website and from the mission statement that really encompasses what our role is and also how it is told to our community partnerships and the families and youth that we work with is that we are committing to youth when they

are typically around kindergarten age level and they're being paired with a mentor and they will have a mentor until they graduate the program. So that usually ends up being a total of 12 and a half years. And that like within that we were doing a lot of like individualized care and support. We work with them in the schools, we work with them outside the schools, we work with them outside the schools,

we help them get into extracurriculars, we help them with like social emotional regulation, developing relationships with other youth in the program and really just like being a consistently reliable human being and one of the big like pillars of our organization is the commitment to long-term, which sometimes can be an issue when you are facing a lot of high turnover

as an organization. We both have eight kids on our roster, as do most mentors. And within that, we have youth, I personally have youth that have been assigned to me that have just started in the program, meaning that they were like maybe first grade when I was assigned to them. And then I also have youth that are middle school level that have had several different mentors in the past.

Some that have stayed there for maybe a few years and like sometimes there's ones that have been there for months. Yeah, if I can add to that, the kids we work with, they're enrolled into the program because they have some risk factors in their lives that would lead them to needing a little bit of extra support and help. So we work with a lot of kids that come from immigrant families, from families that have single parent households,

foster care families and kids. Kids that like, unfortunately are likely to face some challenges that our society and the way it's built up will deal to them. And our goal is to help them through those challenges just be there for them so that they have a chance of, you know, graduating high school or entering adulthood without having, adulthood without having, you know, having had kids or facing like the justice system. It's kids that we love dearly, that we work with in the similar way as like, you know, program like Big Brothers, Big Sisters. But we are paid mentors, which is the big difference, right?

We're not volunteer based. We are employees, basically social workers for all of the families that we work with. It's honestly like, it's a great job. And I think right now, especially like super necessary because things are falling apart. Yeah. Yeah. because things are falling apart. Yeah, yeah. And yeah, just adding like one that made me think of how within the work, like I think social work is a very apt choice of words

because we are paired with the youth and it doesn't like stop there. Like we work with the families. We also work with like the siblings too, because sometimes you'll have a youth that maybe is the only child in that family that for whatever reason got a mentor and then you support also. I mean, it's a choice, but I would say that most mentors definitely opt in to being there for siblings and family members in the household and making sure that they're also showing up for the caregivers to help them create a loving home.

Yeah. And I mean, I think that you can look at this and see how it's supposed to work structurally and you were talking about like, I mean, this is supposed to be a like over a decade long commitment to these kids, right? That ideally you're working with the same person and, you know, you're forming really deep emotional attachments because you can't not do that if you're doing this kind of work. But then also, you know, in order for that to work, I think, you know, you can see this to the outside, like in order for this to work, this has to be a job that you could stably do for a decade, right? Like.

Yeah. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Which I will say we do, and I wanna do, I wanna give so many props to one of our mentors who has stayed for 12 years and has graduated their youth.

But of all of our coworkers, I believe it's only one that has currently been able to do that and has stayed there as long as I have. Yeah, yeah. And the truth of the fact like, yeah, A, for any job 12 and a half years is a really long time, right? I mean, six years is a really long time. And with this job, we're like, we're an emotional sponge for a lot of things, right? So our kids go through everything that you could imagine. And within that, like everything good and everything bad that you could imagine. And our job, good and everything bad that you could imagine. Our job a lot of times is like we can't solve the things that are affecting these kids, but we can take in some of those negative feelings and that grief,

that anger, we can take it in and almost dissolve it a little bit. But within that, it can affect us so, so much. And that's where, yeah, the sustainability part of like 12 and a half years in this job, like that is a lot. And we need a lot for that to like at all be possible. Yeah, I mean, there's this way in which you're effectively, what this job is, is like,

you're the person who is trying to like mitigate the impact of like all, like literally all of the structural systems of violence that exists in this entire country and how like how they're just sort sort of targeted down on these kids. And your job is to like, try to like, protect them as much as possible. And that's unbelievable amount of like, physical and emotional labor. And then also, like, I don't know, it seems pretty bad that there's only been one coworker who's been able to graduate through kids. Like, just to clarify for history, that's been in like our time. Yeah, yeah.

So I don't know if like over the 30 years, I hope that other people have, but yeah, in recent years, it's only been the one. And also like, yeah, this is a job where you are not necessarily able to like undo the systems at play, but trying to support them. And we as mentors are inevitably also facing those systems against ourselves. And one of the reasons that I think people gravitate

towards this job is their empathy because they have those shared experiences. One of the things that is kind of heavy in the culture of friends is being asked your why when you start, like, why did you choose friends? And for a lot of people, it is because of wanting to be the person that they needed when they were going through those periods of time.

So there's bound to be like a lot of like reactivation of feelings inside yourself that I think we all like I want to say like every mentor I've worked with has an incredible job of like handling that and like taking good care of themselves. But it is definitely something that like takes a lot of regulation and I think empathy is one of the greatest skills in this job, but it also, yeah, it also then leads to us needing greater needs of self care and things like that. Yeah, and like, I mean, I guess like,

to put this in perspective for like people listening to this is like, okay, your job is to be the person like in the friend group who like manages, like when someone's like having an emotional crisis like you have to like help them and deal with it and that is your job for like eight kids who are going through like the worst shit in the world like Jesus Christ oh good lord it's it's honestly like like hearing this it's always really helpful to hear someone's outside perspective of our job, right?

Because we get so into it, so into the muck of what this job can be. And I think overall, like social work, it's not just our job, but I'm sure other social workers and people in care industries, we have that like continuous like vicarious trauma that makes us forget like how

How our job is sometimes and then it's helpful to hear other people mention it because it's like yeah Our job is kind of crazy and the work we do is like really important and really important for. And also, yeah, it's hard. It's hard work. It's hard and it doesn't really have an end point. We have the hours we work with kids and then we have the hours we think about them and the things going on in their lives. And sometimes it's sweet things. A lot of times it's sweet things where I'll see something and be like, oh my gosh, you know who would love that? And like things like that are like, oh, great idea. Or, oh, let's go see this movie. And a lot of times

it's like worrying though too. And knowing that there is only so many things we can control. And some things we just have to be the person that's there as they have to go through something. Which, yeah, it's hard because we also obviously like develop such loving relationships with these kids. It's hard to see kids that you care about so much that sometimes the most you can do is just be there. Yeah, it definitely is a job that like, to some degree, is sort of always with you. Yeah, we have a joke about this with this job where it's like, like, if you do what you love, and you'll never be free for a single second of your entire life. It's just always honest. Yeah, it's true. Yeah, as you say this, I worked till like 930 last night because I was like, you know

what, I'm enjoying this so much hanging out with my guys, so I'm just going to keep working. Yeah, yeah. So speaking of keeping working, we need to go to ads and then we will come back and talk about the ways in which this job that requires an incredible amount of structural support to keep people there for like over a decade is failing to do that. I'm Israel Gutierrez and I'm hosting a new podcast, Dub Dynasty, the story of how the Golden State Warriors have dominated the NBA for over a decade. The Golden State Warriors once again are NBA champions. From the building of the core that included Klay Thompson and Draymond Green to one of the boldest coaching decisions in the history of the sport.

I just felt like the biggest thing was to earn the trust of the players and let the players know that we were here to try to help them take the next step, not tear anything down. Today, the Warriors dynasty remains alive, in large part because of a scrawny 6'2 hooper who everyone seems to love. For what Steph has done for the game, he's certainly on that Mount Russmore for guys that have changed it. Come revisit this magical Warriors ride.

This is Dubb Dynasty. The Dubb's dynasty is still very much alive. Listen to Dubb Dynasty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey kids, it's me Kevin Smith. And it's me Harley Quinn Smith. That's my daughter, man, who my wife has always said is just a beardless, dickless version of me, and that's the name of our podcast, Beardless, Dickless Me.

I'm the old one. I'm the young one. And every week we try to make each other laugh really hard. Sounds innocent, doesn't it? A lot of cussing, a lot of bad language. It's for adults only. Or listen to it with your kid. Could be a family show.

We're not quite sure. We're still figuring it out. It's a work in progress. Listen to Beardless, Dickless Me on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you remember what you said the first night I came over here? How goes lower? From Blumhouse TV, iHeart podcasts and Ember 20

comes an all new fictional comedy podcast series. Join the flighty Damien Hirst as he unravels the mystery of his vanished boyfriend. And Santi was gone. I've been spending all my time looking for answers about what happened to Santi. And what's the way to find a missing person? Sleep with everyone he knew, obviously. Pillow talk.

The most unwelcome window into the human psyche. Follow our out of his element hero as he engages in a series of ill-conceived investigative hookups. Mama always used to say, God gave me gumption in place of a gag reflex. And, as I was about to learn, no amount of showering can wash your hands of a bad hookup. Now, take a big whiff, my brah. Listen to The Hookup on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Sonoro and iHeart's MyCultura podcast network present The Setup, a new romantic comedy podcast starring Harvey Guillen and Christian Navarro. The Setup follows a lonely museum curator searching for love. But when the perfect man walks into his life. Well, I guess I'm saying I like you. You like me? He actually is too good to be true.

This is a con. I'm conning you to get the Delano painting. We could do this together. To pull off this heist, they'll have to get close and jump into the deep end together. That's a huge leap, Fernando, don't you think? After you, Chulito. But love is the biggest risk they'll ever take. Fernando's never going to love you

as much as he loves in this job. Chulito, that painting is ours. Listen to The Set Up as part of the MyCultura Podcast Network available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we are back. So okay, now that we've sort of talked about what this is, let's talk about the actual union, which is the thing. Yeah. Yeah. So can you talk about sort of how did organizing for this union start and what were the sort of issues that could have brought everyone to be like, okay, we need to do this?

Yeah, for sure. So we first brought about our petition to unionize in March of 2023. So that was two years ago, long time ago. But the work for unionization, obviously the organizing behind it started much before that. When I first joined Friends, it was in September of 22, and I knew that the work had already been like happening the summer before. What was the catalyst was post COVID, a obviously a lot of people left, given what COVID did to a lot of industries and especially care work.

But then likewise, a lot of people were fired and were many would say like fired without like a full on like due process that included a program manager who was really listening to friends and advocating for the mentor role. And they were let go, which spurred a lot of people to want to start organizing. Some of the issues that we faced, like the pay, obviously, like within social work in general and nonprofit work, like it's never going to match up and never going to

really be as good as like the cost of living, especially here in Portland. But the pay compared to like all of the emotional work and all the work that we do was just not there and not sustainable. It's why people were not like able to stick around because frankly we were looking at the same issues that our families were facing of like, you know, food insecurity and needing to like get food stamps or like needing like rental and like housing assistance because our pay was just not up to par. Those are a few of the issues. Jess, I don't know if you have other thoughts. Yeah, I think you touched on a lot of them. I think it's hard to

say in this job if you are looking to have a family. There's been issues, yeah, with pay, with insurance, with other sorts of things that have led to mentors leaving rather than staying there. Even if they really wanted to stay there, it just wouldn't necessarily allow for them to have maybe the life they wanted. And also just honoring, I think with like, bereavement leave and critical issue leave has been areas that haven't really been addressed. Yeah. We have had very tragic things happen in the, in our working community with the families

and that have drastically affected, yeah, the well- wellbeing of mentors and staff members alike. Yeah. And I mean, you know, this is a job that structurally is designed to be a kind of like, like again, if the goal is to have one person from kindergarten to until they like, like a graduating high school, right? Like that is something that requires like 1950s, 1960s style Fordism. Like you have one job for decades. And the only way you can do that is if people are incredibly well supported. And it's like, the fact that it's like, okay, you're trying to do this, but you're not paying people enough money to fucking afford food. Like what the hell? Jesus Christ. Yeah. Oh my God. Yeah. Or even, I mean, it's still something that we're fighting, but like our, our work place like doesn't provide health insurance for dependents. Um, which I think

is like, God, really ironic giving how much we care for kids. And then some of our mentors and other coworkers that have kids like have to spend so much money on health insurance for their own personal kids. Friends of some of the kids, apparently. That's how this works. The kids, they think. Yeah. And yeah, and honestly, like big, big picture thinking, like the reason why we like started this whole unionizing project was because we care so much about our kids. Right. Like I, when I first started working at friends, like I, I think was the first mask mentor to be hired in a fairly long time after a lot

of firings of other mass mentors and two of the youth that, but actually it's more than two of the youth, but the first two youth that I was matched up with, they hadn't had a mentor for over two years, which is a really long time. Like when, when you, you know, are five, six years old and you're used to one person consistently picking you up every single week and hanging out with you and spending time with you for several hours, four, six or seven years. And then just like next day, next week, maybe even that same day you find out like, oh, you no longer have a mentor and you're not going to have a mentor for two more years because people keep leaving. People aren't wanting to apply for this job because the

pay isn't high enough, right? That then like creates like a lot of issues with the kids that we're dealing with. It's not like we are these saviors or anything along those lines, right? But when someone has consistent support and then that support is lost for a long time, especially when you're a young kid where it's been the majority of your life you've been having that support, that then creates like a lot of trust issues and like overall like attachment issues that youth could face. And for me, that was the main thing like working with these kids and having to like regain that trust was something that's like still to this day is like really emotionally like daunting. And I like, I will keep saying this, I love my

kids so much. Like I like can't stop thinking about them. And I want to be with my kids until they graduate, which would mean me staying at this job for another eight years, which it's a long time, right? But I want to do that. So I want to, you know, get paid, have time off when one of my, sadly, this is something that did occur where you've passed away that I worked with and like didn't have time off to like really grieve that hard stuff. And I just want to be able to stay there till they're done with the program. Yeah, and it's like there's just like a litany of horrors where it's like one, it's like, you know, when there is like, it's not, you know, like turnover in a normal job sucks.

But this is like when there's turnover because people can't afford to live their lives, it's like you're just like ripping a hole in these kids, like the fabric of their social lives. And then also it's like, yeah, one of these kids that is literally your job to care for dies is you just have to fucking go to work the next day? Like, it is so hideous. And it's just like...

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, like it makes sense that like, yeah, people are working on it because it's like, you know, it's like this organization is just systemically failing both the people they're trying to help and the people whose job it is to like help them. And yeah, yeah. Yeah. I think one of the things that is like hardest to see while like working there is the ways in which this like job that you do like that, like I care the problem. Because if we aren't like having it so that employees feel supported in the way that they need to, like life happens.

Sometimes people leave and like move and get a different job for various reasons. But a lot of the times it's, it's because it's not sustainable and it's really hard to leave. And like, it's a heartbreaking thing because I want to graduate many of my youth and it is something that I think about of like, how feasible is that? Like I wanna do it and like also, okay,

then that means I gotta be frugal in all these other ways or et cetera. And yeah, and working with youth that have already kind of experienced loss and wanting to continue to show up for them. The job itself feels so sacred and like I feel so lucky to be in these kids lives. And I think just a lot of the turnover has been out of like lack of sustainability for yourself, like for your well being. Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, the turnover numbers were pretty wild. I think one time we calculated it and mentors were it was like a 40 something percent like turnover

rates for mentors. Yeah. And a lot of that happened because in this two year time period, where we've been fighting for a contract, they also froze wage increases. So I've had the same, the same wage for the past two years, two and a half years that I've been working here, you know, and in that same time period, inflation has been Yeah, critique crazy and rent for me. And it's about to get worse. It's about to get so much worse. Yeah, which, you know, gladly now we have this fight and we're at the two year mark and not at the zero year mark and not looking forward to two more years of doing this. But yeah, it's been hard to sustain this when everything is increasing in price and our wages

are completely stagnant. Yeah. Yeah. So let's take one more ad break and then we will come back to talk about, yeah, how unionization efforts are going and yeah. I'm Israel Gutierrez and I'm hosting a new podcast, Dub Dynasty, the story of how the Golden State Warriors have dominated the NBA for over a decade. The Golden State Warriors once again are NBA champions. From the building of the core that included Klay Thompson and Draymond Green to one of the boldest coaching decisions in the history of the core that included Clay Thompson and Draymond Green to one of the boldest coaching decisions in the history of the sport. I just felt like the biggest thing was to earn the trust of the players and let the players know that we were here to try to help them take the next step, not tear anything

down. Today, the Warriors dynasty remains alive, in large part because of a scrawny 6'2 Hooper who everyone seems to love. For what Steph has done for the game, he's certainly on that like Mount Russmore for guys that have changed it. Come revisit this magical Warriors ride. This is Dubb Dynasty. The Dubb's dynasty is still very much alive.

Listen to Dubb Dynasty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Hey kids, it's me, Kevin Smith. Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. And every week we try to make each other laugh really hard. Sounds innocent, doesn't it? A lot of cussing, a lot of bad language. It's for adults only. Or listen to it with your kid. Could be a family show. We're not quite sure. We're still figuring it out.

It's a work in progress. Listen to Beardless, S***less Me on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever. You get your podcast. Do you remember what you said the first night I came over here? Ow, goes lower. From Blumhouse TV, iHeart Podcasts, and Ember 20

comes an all new fictional comedy podcast series. Join the flighty Damien Hirst as he unravels the mystery of his vanished boyfriend. And Santi was gone. I've been spending all my time looking for answers about what happened to Santi. And what's the way to find a missing person? Sleep with everyone he knew, obviously.

Hmm, pillow talk. The most unwelcome window into the human psyche. Follow our out of his element hero as he engages in a series of ill-conceived investigative hookups. Mama always used to say, God gave me gumption in place of a gag reflex. And as I was about to learn,

no amount of showering can wash your hands of a bad hookup. Now, take a big whiff, my brah. Listen to The Hook Up on the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Sonoro and iHeart's My Cultura podcast network present The Set Up, a new romantic comedy podcast starring Harvey Guillen

and Christian Navarro. The Set Up follows a lonely museum curator searching for love. But when the perfect man walks into his life. Well, I guess I'm saying I like you. You like me? He actually is too good to be true. This is a con, I'm conning you. To get the gelato painting.

We could do this together. To pull off this heist, they'll have to get close. And jump into the deep end together. That's a huge leap, Fernando, don't you think? After you, Chulito. But love is the biggest risk they'll ever take. Fernando is never going to love you as much as he loves this job. Chulito, that painting is ours.

Listen to The Set Up as part of the MyCultura podcast network available on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We are back. Yes, let's let's talk about how this campaign is going. So you said you've been in bargaining for like two years? So we had our petition for recognition on March 23rd, 2023. So that was over two years ago. And then our... Yeah, yeah. So that was over two years ago. And then our, our employer didn't formally recognize us, but through the process of like voting, we got over 93%.

Wow. That's an incredible, that's incredible. It's super great. And it's also like, wow, we all really needed that. Yeah. And like there were some other barriers, including like not being formally recognized. Like we also had management contest a few positions that I believe most, if not all, we were able to successfully have be part of our unit. And then we didn't have our first bargaining session until September of 2023. So like almost six months, I think, if I did the math right, after we formally

presented our letter for recognition. And like throughout that process, so now it has been like, Jesus is quite good at keeping track of it. But I think as of today, we're about at 580 days of bargaining. God, yeah. Um, yeah, it's been a long one and it hasn't been, it's been like also a choppy journey where there has been delays in, um, scheduling delays in just getting different articles back in time. One of the biggest ones obviously was compensation. And I think I can't quite remember the period of time,

but we presented it over a year ago, I think, maybe. Oh my God. I could be wrong. And it took several, several, several months for us to get anything back from management, which yeah was a big bummer amongst other things. It sucks. It sucks. And obviously that's the one that we have yet to finalize.

Like as we're talking right now. Yeah, it is. Insurance and compensation are still our last two articles left. Yeah, and some of the difficult things, I mean, when you are working on a project, I mean, I wouldn't be surprised, given like really when these conversations started,

if we're looking at like over 900 or 1000 days of like really talking about this, but then when you're dealing with bargaining for 580 days, like it's exhausting. It is so exhausting. We have regular meetings that we attend to that our bargaining meetings were specifically scheduled outside of work hours so that like the people on our bargaining team and other union members would have to put in the extra time outside of our 40 hour week. Yeah. And within that, like, the hardest part is when you directly confront, right, your managers and your bosses about, like, the rights and the things that you need. So much of it, like, boils down to respect, right?

And your respect is like a worker and the value that you have as a worker in your organization. And when there is the pushback on that, it honestly is, like for me at times was debilitating, right? When you're doing this work and your workplace is stretching things out for so long, and you're pouring your heart out on your kids, like really trying to do the best. That response from our supervisors and managers, like it really was hard. It was hard for me, it was hard for other union organizers in our workplace

and it was hard for all of our workers where we started thinking like, dang, like what is the value that we have like in this workplace? What is the value that we intrinsically have in the work that we're doing with our kids? It's a lot, and it's a lot when you're facing all these systems that our kids are facing and like taking those things in and then are trying to change those systems, finally able to try to change those systems. And we learned that like, oh, wait, like the place that we're working is actually part of these systems too. And it's doing the same things that we're fighting to have our kids have better lives. We're facing it right now from inside the house.

Yeah, I wanted to add in to very much realizing that our management is also in a way operating maybe a corporation, which isn't the hope you would have for a nonprofit. And one of the steps we had to take as a union was filing a UOP. So unfair labor practice, which cited, like I had mentioned before, like delays and scheduling, and also regressive bargaining, which just means that like the way in which they are presenting things would have lessened our like quality of conditions. So definitely not what you want to be getting. Not what you want to be handed across from the bargaining table. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Within this process, they were currently salaried workers, but they tried to change us to hourly workers. Oh my god.

Yeah. Which again, like we're always working, you know, we're always working. So unless you want to pay me for 24 hours. You know, you're talking about like, yeah, that their behavior in the corporation is like, oh yeah, this is exactly what like by employer did to me, which, which is like, like, one of the largest media companies in the world, and they dragged out negotiations for two years. And like, you know, you're talking about this, like, just like, oh, they're like, the feeling of disrespect

where they're just not getting stuff back to you. And it's like, I remember, you know, like, we'd be sitting there for a bargaining meeting and they wouldn't, and they would be an hour late. And they'd be an hour late because they hadn't, like, bothered to beforehand spend time drafting out what their responses were going to be. So they were frantically trying to get it done before we were there.

And we're all just sitting there for literally an hour waiting for them to show up. And it's like, okay, there are people in this unit whose job is to stand next to car bombs. Like, and you can't show up on time to your, to this, to this meeting that you have no, was going to happen for weeks. Like, it's just, I say this every single episode, this is an incredibly common YouTube-listing tactic is draw out the first contract because that's like the second point where unions fail after like the, after you get like recognition votes is like here.

Yeah, for sure. You know, like, I mean, I think to some extent we expect corporations to do this, but it's like, okay, this is an NGO that's like the point of which is supposed to be like helping underprivileged, underprivileged youth. And then they're like, we're going to turn around and we're going to screw over different underprivileged youth. Like, yeah, it sucks. Yeah.

And I think that's like, for me, one of the things that just like mess with my mind the most is that like, we're, one of the things that just like mess with my mind the most is that like, we're not selling a product, right? We're not trying to like get revenue or anything along those lines, right? So like our job is a job that we actually like fully love and like want to stick around like, not just for our own like, financial, you know, peace and our own, like, financial security. Like, we want to stick around in this job because we care about the job. And, you know, that's not to, like, other, you know, businesses and other workplaces that unionize. A lot of times people want to do that because they

want financial security, right? And I think for a lot of NGOs, nonprofits and care work, like we unionize because we want to stick around both because of financial security, right? But also because we just like care so much about the work that we're doing. And to be faced with actions by our workplace that, you know, tried to dissuade us from that, try to like, you know, in a sense, like it felt like stopping us from wanting to stick around. Like that, again, really hard, really hard. And I think like

a really, like psychologically hard part that comes with unionizing in the care work field and the nonprofit space. Yeah, this isn't a job that people are going to take for the money. But we do need to be receiving equitable pay and benefits so that we stay at this job. Like, this, by all means, and like, still, like, this is the same way I feel about it to this day. I remember, like, reading the little, like, job description for this role and was like, oh, this is, dude, this is like my dream job.

This is like 100% what I want to spend my energy towards. Um... And, yeah, I think that's a huge part of why we were able to get like that 93%. And to have also like routine support for different actions and stuff is just because we have people that care so much about wanting to stick around. Matthew 10 Yeah. And that's the thing that NGOs, you know, and you see this in abortion work, you see this in, like you see this in nursing, you see this in all of these different fields,

like that's the thing that these NGOs use to exploit people, is, you know, like, is the basic human empathy and love and care that we have for the people who we're caring for. And these people are like, aha, look at this. Aha, these people, they care about the thing that they're doing. We can underpay them and overwork them. It's like, why is there just work like this? What a terrible way to design an economic system. Yeah.

Just good lord. Oh Let's talk a little bit about like, you know What kinds of organizing things you all have been able to do and the kinds of things you've been able to accomplish by? You know working together even in these really kind of like I don't know structurally difficult conditions Yeah, we've had um We've had a multitude of different actions over the past You know over the past 580 days. I think one of our biggest ones by far, which I think also was just one of our most beautiful

in a way, was November of last year. We did an info picket. And it was one of those things too, where it was very well planned out, but also even with the best of planning. Midway through it, we had a shift location, based off of just changing information we were getting. And we had one of our, like, little bits, it's because our union is called Fun.

A lot of our posters were SpongeBob themed, So instead of imagination, you know, it's compensation. That rules. Yeah. And I think it's indicative of like also how much people that work with us are playful and sweet and why we're good at our jobs of working with kids. Yeah. And yeah, we had very high turnout. I think we had 40 something people within our own organization that showed up for that. We've done smaller actions too by just asking for community support. We've had caregivers write letters of support to different people in management.

We've also done a few pack the rooms for bargaining sessions, especially when there have been times that have felt like there's been some semblance of stalling. Yeah, those are just some of them. Hey, Steve, chime in with others. Yeah, within that, and I think an interesting thing about nonprofits, our revenue comes from donors. We have to play this like fun game of like,

okay, how do we communicate with our donors, right? So that we make sure that they know that like, you know, this is part of like what they're donating to, but then within that also like, you know, ask for money as well, right? Because we do want, you know, better pay and better benefits, right? So we've contacted donors and we'll still plan to do that

with both that ask of like support the union and support our organization. Right. Because the thing that we care about the most is the work that we do with our kids. And for that to happen, we want our organization to like stay afloat. Truly. Right. Yeah. Some of the wins that we've gotten, I mentioned earlier that they were trying to have us be hourly workers. That was a big campaign that we were fighting back on for a long time. It's also like what precipitated the ULP filing.

I made too many buttons. You could never have too many buttons. Truly. That said, I work 40 plus hours a week because one of the people on the bargaining team for management at the bargaining table asked if we even work 40 hours a week while we were talking about this. And that's like one of those instances that I mean, like, yeah, wow, that's like a little disrespectful and like really bites.

So we all were wearing these pins regularly. We, you know, we signed a strike pledge where we had like 80 something percent of the unit say that, like, if we came to voting for a strike, people would strike. And the big win that like if we came to voting for a strike people would strike and The big win was like, okay great. We get to stay a salaried workers because they walk back on that on that threat. We Are time off We have a time off contract or agreement now that like some of my co-workers that have been around a long time Once the contract gets ratified

They'll have like two more weeks of time off. Hell. Yeah. Hell yeah Because they haven't they've been around for seven years and they're still at the same amount of time off Basically that I'm at and that I've been at since the beginning. Yeah, and when it comes to wages like we're still that since the beginning. Yeah. And when it comes to wages, like we're still figuring that out. But some of the gains that we are potentially looking at is like incredible. Like I looked at the numbers yesterday of like what hopefully given like where we're at right now in the agreements, like what I would hopefully get. And I straight up like teared up looking at the number because it felt like such a big change in my financial status, right?

And yesterday, like as I said, I worked till 9.30 PM with my kids, probably because I had this like massive like weight of, you know, this financial doom that I'm looking at somewhat lifted at the hope of the wins that we might get from this contract. So it's been incredibly hard, incredibly long, way too long. And all of it is so it's going to be so worth it. Right. I hope that's something that the listeners really get that like, this is hard work, but in the end, like is the change that we were hoping

for, you know? Yeah. And recently, one of the things that we did do just like a run through of just to kind of boost morale since marketing has gone on for so long was compile all the wins that we have so far just through TA. So still tentative, but yeah, it did map out a lot of huge things. One of the things we do a lot in this job is drive, and we don't have many things in policy about cleanings or repairs when something happens in your car with a youth. Like say, they throw up, it happens with kids. Like that isn't necessarily something that would have been like covered. We would have had to just pay for that cleaning ourselves.

And like mileage is a huge thing where one of our potential like big wins is that we'll get like full mileage covered rather than having to like deduct time from like this illusion of having an office where we were to have to minus some mileage in whatever way made sense with where our buildings were located. Despite even if our kids were like totally somewhere else where we were picking them

up. It definitely wasn't like the most sensible way for us to be like being fully reimbursed for what we were doing. And those are all huge wins that we do have. Like obviously compensation and insurance are two of the biggest that we're still working on. I think recently, like almost within this week, we've started to tip in a way that feels like we may be close to having a contract soon, which I do want to say, as inspiration to everybody out there that works for a non-profit, unionize and you know what?

You might, it might fare well for you. I have hope for everybody. Right now, I think a lot of my coworkers are starting to have hope again, because I do think, like you said, it is totally a manipulation tool to have it drawn out so long. And yeah, it is exhausting to be basically stalled in your wage for two and a half years. But we are like gaining some traction again, which I do think is something that we're still being, you know, cautious with. Just because right now it does feel like management is working with us a little bit more.

But I also think that there are reasonings around that. Like we're about to have in a few weeks, our biggest fundraiser for our work. Because like Hasee said, we are majority donor based. And I do think there's an appeal to management to have a contract by then. Yeah. It adds to the whole, we're doing good work and we treat our employees well. I hope that that is something then that is fulfilled by them in an honest way,

not just a superficial way, because we are still pushing for a little bit more right now and have bargaining coming up next week. So yeah, I'm really hoping that what they're showing us isn't just performative, that we really might be able to get to a point where there is something that is truly good for us. Because we're all ready.

We're all ready for a contract. Yeah. Yeah, as you know, as someone who got our contract, like it doesn't magically solve everything, but like my god, it should make your life better. It is absolutely worth it. Yeah.

Okay. So how can people support y'all both locally here and then just broader? Because most people are not here. Honestly, most of our people in management positions, information is public. If you wanna email them and support, go for it. Also just encouraging either your workplace if you work in kind of a social work setting or if you know people that are,

because this whole field of work takes such a toll on people and it is the most necessary work. And I think it's really easy to fall into the mindset of I'm doing this for the greater good, not for money, not for these things, but you also deserve to feel okay and taken care of and have the things you need to be saying. Yeah, hey, Cece, anything else you want to add? Yeah. I mean, I would add that like, we have an Instagram, right?

That's friends, PDX Union Network, it's a mouthful, but we'll link that in the description. Yeah, great. And then within that, like, if you're in Portland, like, make sure to like, follow us and like pay attention to what we're posting because we, you know, hopefully we do not have to get to a point in striking, especially the place that we're at right now with our contract. But in truth, like we're looking at 580 days and that is quite a long time. And then also like, if listeners do have the ability to donate, if they could donate some funds for Friends of the Children Portland and somehow in their notes be like, I support

the union, like, I think that could also be a really interesting way to show the support that like, our supporters have like for both the work that we're doing on the youth level, but then also like in the union side of things too. There's been a lot of like communication of like, oh, this is really going to impact like the development side of our organization and like all of the things that like our fundraising team is going to have to do to meet these, which again, I think that would be more true if our executive director wasn't making like, what, like five times as much money as I am. Jesus Christ.

Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, showing that support, it doesn't have to be a lot, but showing our bosses just how much like the populace like is supporting our unionization efforts like that, that would be really dope too. And then also like it impacts our kids, like our kids, like that's the truth of it all. Like I want my kids to have the best life that they could possibly have. And sadly we live in a world where money that they could possibly have. And sadly, we live in a world where money really dictates that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So those are, we will have links in the description to all of that. And

yeah, thank you to both so much for coming on the show and I hope you win. And yeah, I hope you get to go back to caring for these kids and not, and also will not have to worry about like being able to live your lives. Thank you so much. Yeah. Yeah, thank you so much for having us. Yeah, of course. Honestly, it's been great talking about the work because it is, it is really important work and I'm happy we get to do it.

Yeah, it's, it's wonderful. And yeah, and so this is, yeah, this, this bit could happen here. And yeah, also go unionize your workplace. You can do it. I guarantee it. It Could Happen Here is a production of Cool Zone Media. For more podcasts from Cool Zone Media, visit our website, CoolZoneMedia.com, or check us out on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can now find sources for It Could Happen Here listed directly in episode descriptions.

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