Staff at Sexual Assault Support Services of Midcoast Maine (SASSMM) have organized a union with the Maine Service Employees Association Local 1989 of the Service Employees International Union.
The Brunswick-based nonprofit — which supports and advocates for people affected by sexual violence and works to prevent it — took the step to voluntarily recognize the staff union instead of forcing a drawn-out and expensive election with the National Labor Relations Board. In statements, SASSMM employees said that using their collective voices will help them better advocate to improve their working conditions and the critical services they provide to their communities.
“We are thrilled to have received voluntary recognition from SASSMM. Our agency already holds many progressive workplace values and practices that we would like to solidify and expand upon through this process," said Sam Saucier, a SASSM Education Program Co-Coordinator. Consent is a core value of our work and unionizing is a way to embed more consensual labor practices into the structure of our organization."
Kendra Finnegan, a SASSMM Education Program Co-Coordinator, said that forming a union will help staff establish more transparency in pay scales, firing and other policies as well as codify workplace practices that benefit staff and create a dialogue for ones that may not.
"Historically, sexual assault advocates have faced burnout, high turnover rates, and vicarious trauma within their roles," said Finnegan. "Rather than accepting this as the norm, we’d like to unionize in order to create systematic sustainability for this crucial work."
Amy Green, a Family Advocate with the Midcoast Children's Advocacy Center, a program of SASSMM, added, "At SASSMM, we are pro-empowerment and anti-exploitation. Unionizing is a sensible step that aligns with the internal values of our agency."