Update: PPPA Union announced April 14, 2021, that the group has won voluntary recognition from the board of the nonprofit organization. They will be a unit of the NewsGuild of Greater Philadelphia.
When the staffers at Planned Parenthood PA Advocates announced March 23 they were forming a union, they already knew a thing or two about organizing: In December 2020 they forced the executive director of the organization to resign after charging her with being “fiscally irresponsible” and saying she used “racist, transphobic, classist language, and language which perpetuates stigma against abortion.”
Their efforts won over the entire staff of the nonprofit, along with more than 900 others, including several state legislators.
Staffers remain committed to fostering the goals of PPPA Advocates, which “works to achieve maximum public, governmental, and media support for reproductive health care,” and to fighting white supremacy in the workplace – battles they plan to wage as members of the Washington-Baltimore Local of The NewsGuild-CWA. They asked management to voluntarily recognize the PPPA Union.
They’re also fighting for “some true accountability” from leadership, a safe, fair workplace, increased wages and a grievance procedure, said Field Organizer Ky Ciccone.
Follow them on Twitter @PPPAUnion.