Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center employees have voted to approve union representation through Teamsters Local 696 after workers raised concerns about staffing, caseloads, and management’s response to their organizing effort.
According to Austin Wilson, a Teamsters 696 organizer, the final vote count was 113-52 (68.5% to 31.5%), with 165 eligible voters out of 252 (65.5%) participating.
Thursday’s election followed weeks of organizing, advocacy and debate among staff over working conditions, staffing levels and management’s response to union efforts.
Throughout the organizing effort, workers have said the campaign is about gaining a formal voice in their workplace decision, caseload expectations, pay and safety conditions.
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The election came after employees asked for voluntary recognition of Teamsters representation, which Bert Nash management declined, prompting the National Labor Relations Board-supervised vote.
In the weeks leading up to the election, several workers raised concerns about the center’s use of outside consultants and what they described as anti-union messaging. Some employees said those efforts contributed to tension in the workplace as the vote approached.
Bert Nash CEO Kirsten Watkins previously said in a statement that the center respects employees’ right to support or oppose union representation and would continue to follow its legal obligations.
“I fully respect this result and we will move forward to engage in the process toward a Collective Bargaining Agreement,” Watkins said Friday.
The Teamsters will now move forward with negotiations on behalf of the Bert Nash employees, a process that could determine wages, benefits and working conditions.
Bert Nash workers had previously unionized under IBEW Local 304 with an overwhelming majority vote in 2024. After more than 100 hours of negotiations, the IBEW on May 22 filed a disclaimer of interest withdrawing their representation of Bert Nash workers, Watkins said last week.
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Courtney Lane (she/her), staff reporter, has worked with The Lawrence Times since April 2026. She can be reached at [email protected].
Read her complete bio here. Read her work for the Times at this link, and see her photography for the Times at this link.
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