Workers at Ironwood — a mental health treatment program and school for struggling teens in Morrill — are voting on whether to form a union. The votes will be counted Tuesday, August 9th. A supermajority of the workers filed a petition to form their union with the Maine Service Employees Association (MSEA-SEIU 1989) in mid-June citing low pay and poor working conditions that has made it difficult to recruit and retain employees. If the election is successful, the new union, Ironwood United, would represent over 50 employees at the facility.
“Too many of our coworkers have left due to dissatisfaction, low pay, and poor working conditions,” the workers wrote in their mission statement. “High turnover has added more work for those of us who remain, diminishing our capacity to provide quality learning and living conditions for our residents. By forming our union, we establish a means to improve these conditions and therefore protect the Ironwood we know and love.”
Ironwood is a licensed residential mental health treatment program and school designed specifically for adolescents, ages 13-17. Its 9-12-month program offers intensive therapy along with customized and accredited academics via three interconnected programs focused on stabilization and assessment, treatment, and transition.