Workers Highlight Firings at Camp Recovery Center
The alarming number of missing employees at the Camp Recovery Center has become a growing concern for employees still working there, and retaliation for supporting their union is the prime suspect.
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On April 23, a crowd of about 100 supporters – including Santa Cruz County Supervisor Mark Stone -- held a media event to honor their loss and support the Employee Free Choice Act.
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Supporters chanted, waved signs and held a giant-sized milk carton with a "missing" person on the box, representing workers who were fired.
About 55 workers -- many of them case workers, counselors and nurses - are attempting to negotiate their first contract with the Camp, a for-profit company. The company has used intimidation and firings to first impede union recognition and now fair bargaining.
Since the original estimated 85 employees began the process for union recognition last year, about a whopping one-third of them no longer work there.
"We are talking about the elimination of 30 people," said Jason Lubin, a Camp Clinical Technician. "Many of them supported the union. Management is definitely trying to send an anti-union message."
The result is less staff to provide critical services, as well as programs being cut under the strain of fewer staff.
"This is why we need to pass the Employee Free Choice Act," Lubin said. "It will level the playing field so that workers don't have to endure this harassment when they first form a union and bargain their first contract."
Click here to learn more about the Employee Free Choice.
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