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Some of homeless provider’s workers unionize, others reject organized labor

By 02/07/2025 | updated 1 year ago

Efforts to unionize employees of one of Colorado’s largest homeless providers failed in area and succeeded in another. 

The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, which provides homeless-related services, employs around 850 people.

Two weeks ago, roughly 80 employees within the housing support services team — case managers, social works and clinical providers — voted to unionize with the Service Employees International Union, according to Colorado Coalition for the Homeless spokesperson Cathy Alderman.

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However, on Wednesday night, about 30 employees within the housing assistance team — case managers and housing navigators — rejected unionizing with SEIU, Alderman said.

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“We’ve been hearing concerns from staff over the last eight months about compensation, but also turnover and retention,” Alderman said. “We tried to put measures in place to address those and what we understand is that staff want different levels of voices.”

The coalition assists over 22,000 individuals and families each year.

In a Thursday news release, coalition officials said executives are “committed to working collaboratively with the staff who wish to unionize to fully respond to any issues regarding their employment.”

“We told staff we weren’t sure this was the right model,” Alderman said. “We wanted to respect all viewpoints and provide all possible information so staff voted on how they wanted to be represented.”

SEIU officials did not immediately return a request for comment.

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