What does a unionized Planned Parenthood mean? Kalamazoo workers vote yes

Workers at Planned Parenthood -- Kalamazaoo Health Center voted to join UFCW local 951 , a chapter of the United Food and Commercial Workers.

"... We are very happy to welcome them as members of UFCW 951,” John Cakmakci, UFCW 951 president, said. “We look forward to bargaining a contract that will give them the guarantees and protections in the workplace they desire and deserve.”

This is the first Planned Parenthood site in West Michigan to authorize union representation and comes on the heels of Vice President Kamala Harris visiting the county to discuss reproductive rights.

Proponants within the organization say their decision came down to a desire to keep the clinics working properly.

“My personal motivation was to strengthen the position of working-class people in my workplace,” Deedee Rounds, medical assistant at Kalamazoo Planned Parenthood, said. "Without working people, the crops don’t grow, the trains don’t run, and in this instance, the clinics don’t open.”

The first contract will be determined by all workers who signed up to join the union and a committee.