Behavior technicians and administrative staff working for large autism services provider organize the first union of its kind at a center in East Portland.

Overcoming weeks of anti-union scare tactics, a group of 30 workers at the East Portland Center for Autism and Related Disorders voted decisively on Thursday, May 23 to form a union with OFNHP!

The Center for Autism and Related Disorders (CARD), with sixteen locations in Oregon and over 230 nationwide claims to be the largest provider of autism services in the world. Workers at the East Portland location are breaking new ground with their successful union election. CARD Portland-East is the first center to unionize to improve working conditions and address their alarming turnover rate.

The Portland community, including many OFNHP members, turned out in force on Sunday to participate in the Reclaim MLK Annual March for Human Rights and Dignity. The event was sponsored by Don’t Shoot Portland (also called Don’t Shoot PDX), a grass-roots organization with a focus on social justice.

OFNHP members were on hand to give away hundreds of books to children and their families, as well as toothbrushes and first-aid kits. The federation also set up a station for children to make bracelets. The books were hand-selected by OFNHP, which worked with First Book, an AFT partner that helps affiliates in providing free and low-cost books and educational resources to students, families and communities in need.