Workers at KC domestic violence shelter seek help from politicians in push to form union

Workers at the Rose Brooks Center failed four years ago to form a union. Now they’re trying again, facing opposition from management of Kansas City’s oldest shelter for victims of domestic violence.

Like most labor organizing efforts, employees are seeking higher wages, safe working conditions and better benefits, including paid family leave.

Management, led by CEO Lisa Fleming, is urging them to cast “no” votes in an upcoming union election, citing union dues, the potential for strikes and changes in workplace culture.

But politics sets this union campaign apart from others. Nonprofit Rose Brooks gets public money, and elected officials who make those funding decisions have gotten involved or are being urged to do so by workers.

Fleming wants them to stay out of the issue and claims labor’s tactics are “coercive.”

In a letter sent to employees recently and obtained by The Star, Fleming said about a dozen leaders and two Jackson County legislators showed up unannounced at the center’s shelter on April 11 to ask that Rose Brooks recognize the union voluntarily.

More than half of the 45 workers in the potential bargaining unit signed cards in support of representation by Local 955 of the Laborers International Union of North America. The case file at the National Labor Relations Board describes those affected as case managers, navigators, shelter advocates and coordinators.

“They demanded that I immediately, right then and there, accept a construction labor union as the representative for some of our coworkers and later threatened a tense public campaign against Rose Brooks Center if I did not agree to their demands,” the letter to the nonprofit’s 140 employees said.

“They have since carried out this threat and launched a damaging social media campaign misrepresenting our decision. They reinforced their coercive actions by bringing along two Jackson County Legislators who have decision-making power over the funding for our shelter, housing, prevention and supported recovery programs.”

Union’s response

Local 955 officials say Fleming mischaracterized their April 11 meeting, which one described as having been cordial and friendly. If one exists, The Star cannot find evidence of the alleged damaging social media campaign other than comments from disgruntled former employees on an Instagram post.

A union official said no social media campaign exists other than that post.

According to the union, Rose Brooks officials did not respond to requests for further meetings, and filed a petition asking for an election with the NLRB. The employment law firm of Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete represents Rose Brooks.

“In response to our request for voluntary recognition, the Rose Brooks board has hired a national union-busting law firm specializing in ‘Union Avoidance’ and has launched an aggressive union-busting campaign,” Local 955’s director of government affairs, Zack Dunn, said in an email to Jackson County Executive Frank White Jr. on Monday.

Attached were two letters to employees, one from Fleming and an unsigned one from Rose Books Center. Dunn said in the email to White that the letters “argue the Union will charge outrageous union dues & fees (which is factually incorrect), that the community delegation was taking photographs of clients (which is incorrect), and even implied that union organizing would potentially harm survivors and get the shelter out of compliance with VAWA (Violence Against Women Act).”

He asked that White and other local officials that provide Rose Brooks with funding contact Fleming and urge Rose Brooks to recognize the union and “immediately cease union-busting communications.”

Dunn said he sent a similar letter to Kansas City council members and had met with two of them on Tuesday.

County interference?

Jalen Anderson said he and Manny Abarca were the two legislators who accompanied union officials and other organized labor supporters to the Rose Brooks shelter on April 11.

Abarca did not respond to requests for comment. But Anderson said their presence was to show solidarity for Rose Brooks workers, not to imply that they would vote to cut off funding if the 45-year-old organization refused to recognize the union.

“The idea that they’re going to not get their money because of this, that was not what my intention was at all,” Anderson said in a telephone interview. “If that’s how they want to take it, which is to make it look like there’s a full-on attack at Rose Brooks, but that’s not how I intended it at all.”

Rose Brooks is budgeted to receive about $131,000 from the county this year for anti-violation prevention and treatment, records show.

Fleming did not respond directly to The Star’s requests for comment on her accusation in the letter to employees. But through a spokesman, Rose Brooks issued the followings written statement:

“While Rose Brooks Center cannot comment on internal employee matters, we are grateful for the values our team upholds through their passionate dedication to those we serve. We requested an election to ensure that our employees have the opportunity to vote in a confidential process managed by the National Labor Relations Board. We will certainly respect the employees’ decision.

“We are working with our long-time employment counsel to ensure that we comply with all legal obligations during this complex process.”