Places for People workers call for company support in unionization efforts

About two dozen union-organizing employees from Places for People and allies gathered Monday outside the company’s office in Soulard — they were hoping to speak with the company’s board of leaders as they entered the building for a meeting.

It was a vigil-themed event. Workers lit several candles in a show of peace toward company leadership.

But company leadership never showed up, at least not near the entrance of the building where organizers stood on Monday. Since July, workers have been organizing with plans to ultimately become a certified local under SEIU Healthcare, a labor union that represents more than 90,000 health care and child care workers across the country.

In a letter circulated on Monday, which currently has over 200 signatures, workers appealed to the company’s board members to join them in the fight against “a broken system.”

“We recognize the pressures you face from state and federal agencies and other funding sources in a broader culture of austerity and systematic inequality,” the letter reads. “We understand that managing the significant growth our agency has seen in recent years is a complex task with imperfect results.

“We can become leaders among organizations like ours grappling with similar challenges, if worker voice is united with executive leadership.”