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A major union at Oregon Health & Science University this week suspended four leaders, according to an internal email, airing rifts in the labor group on the eve of its own elections, and as it bargains with the university over a consequential new contract.
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 328 reports representing a bargaining unit of some 7,000 varied workers at OHSU—a majority share of the 11,000-plus people AFSCME says it represents at the flagship Oregon medical institution.
Those suspended from their roles—and in some cases, their membership—at Local 328 included Vice-President Trisha Crabb and Chief Steward Sarah Curtis, as well as two other leaders who were running for higher office in coming Local 328 elections.
“While this change may come as unexpected news, please know that it was approached with the utmost seriousness and responsibility to our membership and local,” Olson wrote in a recent letter addressed to union stewards.
Olson is a party to the conflict herself. According to a copy of the AFSCME judicial panel’s Aug. 29 ruling, obtained by WW, Olson lodged the formal charges that led to most of the suspensions.
The details outlined in the document are convoluted—they suggest historic grievances at play—but it generally assesses Olson’s allegation that members of the group interfered to keep her from meetings that she, under the union’s constitution, was empowered as president to join.
In part, the matter concerned a union steward named CG Brothers. The scope of the judicial panel’s review spans several weeks, but one key moment took place May 7. According to the review, Olson joined a union meeting that the accused parties were participating in. This prompted Brothers, who evidently had not expected the president’s attendance, to state that Olson’s presence was discriminatory and to leave the meeting. According to the review, Crabb and another union leader, Karri Garaventa, also left the meeting in what they argued was a show of solidarity with Brothers.
The issue, Brothers, Crabb, and Garaventa said in their defense, was that Olson didn’t give advance notice that she would attend the meeting. In failing to do this, they argued, she failed to accommodate the needs of Brothers. In the past, they noted, Brothers had reported feeling more grounded when there was a clear sense of rules and expectations.
According to the review, Olson said she had been invited by an Oregon AFSCME staff member to attend the meeting.
Made up of AFSCME representatives from around the U.S., the union’s judicial body reviewed this and other related matters and determined that, while “complex at first glance,” the decision was actually simple when compared against the Local 328 constitution.
“The accused parties’ refusal to participate in committee meetings and engage in discussions with the president over topics that impact the Local and its members are acts that deliberately interfered with the discharge of the president’s official lawful duties,” wrote Carla Insinga, the panel’s chair.
Though acquitting Brothers, Crabb and Garaventa on some matters, the judicial panel found them guilty of violating the union constitution, leading to six month suspensions of their memberships—during which time they would remain subject to the union contract but be ineligible to participate in the union in other ways.
Curtis, who has in the past run unsuccessfully against Olson for Local 328 president, was not charged in the proceeding, but the judicial documents suggest she was aligned in the dispute with those who were. According to AFSCME Oregon spokesperson David Kreisman, Curtis’s suspension from her leadership positions is a result of a separate majority vote of the Local 328 board.
The three other people are appealing the court’s decision. Kreisman says the union judicial panel determined today that the suspension would not be delayed pending the appeal—meaning those of them who planned to run in the coming union election under the banner of the group “Revive 328″ will no longer be eligible.
In a Facebook post, Curtis wrote that the timing of the suspensions was “no coincidence.”
President Olson “is attacking fellow member leaders right before the election,” Curtis wrote. “Local 328, we deserve better.”
Reached by phone, Curtis declined to comment, citing pending union proceedings. Brothers sent WW a written statement on behalf of the others, using a union honorific.
“While Siblings Brothers, Crabb, and Garaventa appreciate the opportunity to discuss the issues at hand, we have recently submitted our appeal to the International Union,” the statement says. “Our priority remains complying with the process outlined in the International Constitution.
“With that said, our position and belief remain that the charges against us are the result of a failure to ensure that our union is accessible to members with disabilities.”
Still, the statement adds, disability status should not be a subject of public discussion. And, referencing the union’s ongoing contract negotiations with OHSU, the statement asked instead that focus remain “on the pressing needs of our membership. The employer’s proposals at the bargaining table are objectionable to say the very least.”
OHSU did not respond to a request for comment.
Correction: An earlier version of this story said the judicial review document describes the May 7 event as an executive committee meeting. But the document does not use that phrase to characterize the union meeting. WW regrets the error.
