Workers at Planned Parenthood in Oregon have voted to unionize with the Service Employees International Union. while the vote was particularly close, the decision to link with the abortion-backing union is not surprising.
Some “161 care providers at Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette (PPCW) voted to form a union with SEIU Local 49 in a National Labor Relations Board Election (NLRB), says the Lund Report. “The vote was a strong majority for the union with a tally of: 97 yes for the union and 43 no.”
Officials with the local abortion business opposed the move, citing increased costs, with the Portland Mercury reporting: “In multiple emails, [Planned Parenthood CEO David] Greenberg told employees to weigh the arguments and make up their own minds. But in an email dated July 19th, he writes that the union may be promising more than it can deliver and says, ‘I hope you will not vote to have SEIU represent you.’”
“Unlike many unionizing campaigns, the workers at the local Planned Parenthoods don’t have a laundry list of complaints,” says the Mercury. “Instead, the drive for the union revolves around having more of a voice in the planning and administration of PPCW, as well as ‘gaining a livable wage for all staff’ and maintaining health benefits.”
John Ransom, writing at TownHall, noticed the vote and the question now is whether SEIU will have any influence over how things are run at the abortion business and whether Planned Parenthood will get bad publicity from linking with the union.
“You know how greedy those capitalist non-profits are, always wanting a say in how their organization is run. What do they think this is a free society where non-profits have to be accountable to donors and funders?” he writes sarcastically. “Combining an abortion provider with a local union, especially the blood-sucking SEIU, is a combination that only the devil himself could think up. Now Planned Parenthood has teamed up with union folks who know a thing or two about violence, threats and intimidation.”
But the Planned Parenthood-SEIU link isn’t a surprise given the SEIU’s abortion advocacy and a key leadership link it has with the nation’s biggest abortion business.
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which represents nearly two million workers in over 100 occupations across the United States, pressured pro-life Democrats who initially opposed Obamacare over its abortion funding provisions. In some cases, the union threatened pro-life Democrats and others who were undecided on the legislation with supporting primary election opponents if they didn’t vote yes on the bill or motions to make the bill law.
In 2005, SEIU networked with one of the top pro-abortion groups, Emily’s List, for Americans for Health Care, a joint project between the Service Employees International Union, and the abortion advocacy group.
But one connection clinches it when it comes to the Planned Parenthood hookup. The name Kirk Adams probably doesn’t mean much even to most pro-life advocates. He is a top attorney for SEIU and happens to be married to Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood.
The SEIU and its political affiliate also contributed $3 million to America Votes, headed by Richards at the time Adams was an aide to SEIU President Andy Stern. Adams, according to the Wall-Street Journal, directed the Obamacare effort for the union — which resulted in a slush fund for Planned Parenthood — and met with pro-abortion President Barack Obama’s former chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, to discuss the bill.
