Rose Brooks Center becomes first unionized domestic violence shelter in Missouri

Rose Brooks Center in Kansas City has become the first unionized domestic violence shelter in Missouri following a vote Thursday.

“I am not voting yes for the union for just myself, but for previous coworkers who could not sustain their jobs,” said Brianna Green, a shelter advocate at Rose Brooks.

“I’m voting yes for future coworkers, so that they have better benefits than what we have right now.”

Workers unionized with Laborers Local 955, which represents workers across 12 different counties in Missouri.

Rose Brooks management had implied in conversation that layoffs would follow a vote to unionize, Andrew Hutchinson, an organizer with Local 955, said Tuesday.

However, Rose Brooks leadership will recognize the union, Scott Mason, Director of Stewardship and Marketing, told The Star on Friday.

“Our employees are at the heart of the work we do each day and, from the start, we supported our employees’ right to a vote, and are respecting the outcome of that vote,” Mason wrote.

Forty percent of employees voted against unionizing, according to Mason.

The vote in favor of the union was 27-18, with one ballot still under contest, KCUR reported.

Rose Brooks Center is one of the oldest and largest domestic violence shelters in Kansas City.

About 12,000 people called the shelter’s hotline in 2023, and about 800 domestic violence survivors worked with employees that year, according to the Rose Brooks website.

Shelter services include emergency housing and childcare, employment advocacy and counseling. Staff turnover has been constant, employees said.

Ammi Vazquez, who has worked at Rose Brooks since 2021, has seen every single one of her original coworkers leave.

“There’s been moments where I don’t think we were very trauma-informed in the way we spoke to our coworkers,” Vazquez said.

Shelter management is rarely interested in trying to understand the problems workers report, Vazquez said.

“My own manager was like, ‘Oh, you’ve never told me about needing more pay,’” Vazquez said. “I was like, ‘Dude, I tried to a couple times.’”

Twenty-five former Rose Brooks employees signed a letter in favor of a union, acknowledging the high level of burnout associated with supporting domestic violence survivors.

“Rose Brooks Center has fostered a culture centered on survivors’ needs,” former employees wrote. “We believe a union further amplifies these values.”

Letters of support arrived from 10 members of the Kansas City Council, as well as organizations including the Kansas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and the KC Federation of Teachers.

Workers and supporters also held a rally on Tuesday.

Ashley Ball, a domestic violence survivor, said watching workers fighting for stability on the job mirrors her struggle with workplace resources in the service industry.

Rose Brooks workers helped Ball with emergency housing, gas cards, car repairs and glasses for her son when she arrived in Kansas City. Showing up for clients like her requires energy, which is unsustainable if pay and conditions are poor, Ball said Tuesday.

“Fighting for better treatment on the job is not only good for the workers, it also means better conditions for the clients as well,” said Ball, a member of advocacy group Stand Up KC. “I know what it’s like to work as a low-wage worker when your own needs aren’t being met, and it can be hard to take care of someone else’s needs.”

Green said some workers have been mistreated by clients — and management has become less responsive to these incidents.

“Some people feel like they can’t support themselves, and I’ve even heard some people say that they feel like they’re being abused,” Green said on Tuesday. “Which is a lot to say, because we’re a domestic violence agency. That’s kind of the whole point, is to fight that stuff.”

Now that members have voted to unionize, more comprehensive demands will follow, Hutchinson said. The union will seek better safety plans for working in survivors’ homes, along with higher pay, caseload limits and paid family leave.

Most of what workers hoped to accomplish by unionizing is related to better benefits, Vazquez said.

“I just paid over $400 for these glasses, and I’m supposed to have insurance,” Vazquez said. “So I don’t know if my eyes are just really bad, or the insurance is funky.”

Madeline Hatler, a victim support advocate, hopes unionizing means she will be the last employee to face the prospect of unpaid maternity leave. Like Vazquez, Hatler, who is pregnant, has seen her entire team turn over in her eight months at Rose Brooks.

“I really hope for a better world for my coworkers, where we can live sustainable lives,” Hatler said. “Rose Brooks has always been the goal for me, so I don’t want to leave.”