Cleveland Rape Crisis Center employees voted Thursday to unionize, according to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) District 1199 WV/KY/OH.
The tally was 32-6, according to a spokesman for the National Labor Relations Board, which is in charge of the election. He said 43 employees were eligible to vote.
If neither party objects to the election within five business days, the bargaining unit for CRCC employees will be certified. The union will represent primarily clinical and advocacy staff, including child therapists, therapists, specialists and coordinators.
I don’t know why we didn’t do this [unionize] sooner. I feel like for how hard that we advocate for survivors, we should also be advocating for our staff.
Tiffany Kish, a Cleveland Rape Crisis Center advocacy manager.
“This is a huge relief,” said Jessica Acord, a clinical manager for anti-human trafficking, shortly after the vote was announced. “I am so proud of everyone who worked so hard to make this happen. The biggest thing is having a voice in some of the decision-making and having a seat at the table.”
Employees said that they decided to unionize because they believed that CRCC leadership had not adequately responded to many of their concerns. They said among such issues were people of color not being represented in certain positions and being laid off in higher percentages than their white counterparts. The workers said that the organization’s leadership had not adequately sought employee’s input and had lacked “transparency” about how decisions had been made regarding these and other issues.
Tiffany Kish, an advocacy manager, said that she and Acord were the first employees to reach out to SEIU District 1199 about forming a union.
“I just felt like, within the agency, we were all trying to make change, and we weren’t really making any progress,” she said. “I don’t know why we didn’t do this [unionize] sooner. I feel like for how hard that we advocate for survivors, we should also be advocating for our staff.”
CRCC leadership said they are ready to work with the union.
“Today our Cleveland Rape Crisis Center employees voted to unionize,” reads a statement from CRCC emailed to Signal Cleveland. “Consent is integral to our mission and work, as are equity, dignity and justice, and we respect the right of our employees to engage in union organization discussions.
“We will bargain in good faith with the union to develop a contract that supports the long-term success of both our employees and CRCC,” the statement reads. “As we move forward together, we will continue to remain fiercely focused on our mission and meeting the needs of survivors of sexual violence who lean on us for support.”
After the vote was announced, several jubilant employees gathered outside CRCC’s West 25th Street offices for group photos. One photo included them holding up a gift from the union: SEIU District 1199 T-shirts. The front shows four pieces of a puzzle and reads: “I am the missing piece to fixing a broken system.” The back reads: “You can’t fix a broken system without the workers’ voice.”
This story was updated to include election results and other information from the NLRB.