Mental Health Partners workers in Boulder plan unionization vote

BOULDER — Workers at Mental Health Partners’ walk-in clinic in Boulder plan to hold a vote Friday to join the Service Employees International Union Local 105 union.

If the vote is successful, the 3180 Airport Road clinic will be the first unionized mental health and substance-use facility in Boulder, according to SEIU. 

Those workers, the union said, have “brought forward complaints of safety issues, unsustainable wages, and scheduling and staffing instability. Workers at the facility state that if unaddressed, these issues stand to negatively impact client care and safety and lead to staff burnout and turnover.”

“I love my job, and I know how important our work is for our community,” Ashley Smith, a crisis clinician at MHP involved in the unionization effort, said in a prepared statement. “But staffing shortages, low pay for our withdrawal management workers, and unaddressed safety concerns create enormous risk and impede our ability to care for our clients facing crises. That’s why we’re forming a union. We’re trying to make MHP the best that it can be for the people we serve.”

MHP, which has locations in Boulder, Longmont, Broomfield, Lafayette and Nederland, has operated in Boulder County since 1962. 

“We support our employees’ right to choose whether they want to be unionized or not. Regardless of the outcome of the election, we will continue to provide a positive and desirable place to work,” MHP said in an emailed statement to BizWest.

The nonprofit organization recently purchased the former Flatirons Health and Rehabilitation building in Louisville for $9.85 million. MHP plans to expand its mental health and substance-use services at the 1107 W. Century Drive site. 

Flatirons Health, a skilled-nursing facility, ceased operations in March, and its parent company, Wichita, Kansas-based Axiom Healthcare Services, laid off more than 100 workers.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include a comment from Mental Health Partners.

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