Non-profit agency staff chooses to join union

EMPLOYEES OF Northwest Immigrant Rights Project elected to join Council 2 in early August.

Based in Seattle, with an office in Granger (near Yakima), the non-profit legal services organization has been providing legal representation and community education to low-income refugees and immigrants in Washington State for the past 20 years.

The 18 employees—attorneys, legal advocates and office support staff—chose to become members of Council 2 in a near-unanimous election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board. They were not represented by any labor organization before the vote.

The staff members called Council 2 offices on a referral after being told of potential changes in their employment guidelines being considered by the board of directors.

They expressed strong interest in joining after a series of meetings in which Council 2 representatives outlined what the union could do for them.

Negotiations on their first contract are expected to start soon.