State health professionals vote to join union

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Health professionals spread in several state departments have voted by a 2-to-1 margin for union representation.

Election results tallied Tuesday showed a 515-227 vote in favor of joining the Service Employees International Union Local 2000 based in St. Louis, the state Board of Mediation said.

Slightly more than half of the 1,380 state workers to be represented by the union participated in the election.

The union bargaining unit will pool together psychologists, social workers, physical therapists, case workers and other health professionals.

Many are employed by the Department of Mental Health, with others in the departments of Corrections, Public Safety and Health and Senior Services.

"People are very concerned about budget cuts, staffing ratios, retaining good employees. And we see this as a way to organize, coordinate our efforts, get a voice in the decision-making," said Darcy Parks, a psychologist at the Mental Health Department's Bellefontaine Habilitation Center in St. Louis. The union vote was the second since Gov. Bob Holden expanded unions' power through an executive order granting collective bargaining rights.