Unions Helping Workers with Mental Health Conditions

November 2002

This report has been developed by The Workplace Center, Columbia University, Sheila H. Akabas, Ph.D., Professor and Director, Lauren B. Gates, Ph.D., Research Director, and Lori Bikson, Program Coordinator; and the New York Work Exchange, The Coalition of Voluntary Mental Health Agencies, Inc.

To complement the report, training materials are available upon request to NYC mental health service providers to help consumers understand the potential role of Unions and Employee Assistance Programs in job retention. The curriculum, including a short video on Unions, can be used when facilitating groups or career clubs for consumers in employment services. For more information on the training materials please call Shaleigh Tice, at 212.742.1122 or e-mail contactus@nyworkexchange.org.

If you prefer face-to-face training, there will be a training session for mental health providers on strategies for working with EAPs and Unions, on January 22nd 2003 at the NY Work Exchange -90 Broad Street.

Introduction

The purpose of this report is to describe the potential of Unions as a connection to the workplace that is largely untapped and poorly understood by consumers and the mental health provider system and to explore the mutual interests of the parties in the employment and job retention of workers with mental health conditions. The core issue in this guide is how to create bridges between the community mental health system and labor Unions, so each may leverage the resources of the other to the benefit of the consumer. This report has been summarized. For a full understanding of the methodology and details of the study, please download the full report: Unions Helping Workers with Mental Health Conditions (PDF).

Although consumers of mental health services want to work, are expected to work and have the skills to work in meaningful jobs, their estimated unemployment rate, at between 70% and 90%, is the highest among any group in the labor market (Gabriel, 2000, p. 6). Clearly there is a need for active effort to improve this situation. As with all diversity outreach, overcoming stigma and other barriers stands as a major challenge between consumers and competitive employment. Unions have the know-how to be advocates on behalf of the changes necessary to make employment happen. Unions can enhance both their own public image and their social contribution to the community by playing that role.

In the first section, the report in its entirety sets the stage by providing background information that introduces the parties to each other - consumers and providers to Unions and Unions to the situation facing consumers and providers. The second section of the full report presents practices and the existing supports based on current Union activities and related situations that might be adopted to assist persons with mental health conditions. The final section suggests the opportunities for the future for providers of vocational services, consumers and Union representatives.

Emerging Themes

Although it was clear that some Unions had very extensive programs in response to social issues in the workplace, and that a few had specific initiatives relevant to workers with disabilities, one of the surprising outcomes of the interviews was the consistency with which respondents mirrored each other' s experience and statements. What follows in this section is a summary of the major themes that could be discerned from the qualitative analysis.

1. Unions' role in supporting and responding to the needs of workers has made them a friend of the mental health system.
2. There is a need for education among Union representatives about mental health systems.
3. Union personnel lack guidance because no formal policy exists for the management of members with disabilities.
4. Union personnel have extensive knowledge that can be useful to the accommodation process.
5. Unions find ways to respond to individual needs despite concern about the CBA.
6. Some CBAs actually contain contract language that can be used to help members receive appropriate accommodations.
7. Member Assistance Program (MAPs) and other Union service personnel who help workers with substance abuse problems have partnered successfully with community providers to help workers retain their jobs.
8. Early communication with Union personnel greatly facilitates the accommodation process.
9. Apprenticeships that lead to Union membership are available in many job titles. 10. A group of model programs, many of the elements of which offer a useful blueprint for the future, are a resource available to Unions today.

Opportunities for the Future

The June 12th, 2002 joint meeting of representatives from Unions, mental health providers and government agencies identified the almost total lack of communication among the parties. The potential gains of improved communications and the possible means of developing partnerships, described in the draft of the guide available before the meeting received scant attention as the parties at the June 12th meeting used their time together to explore the issues that had kept them apart and to search for some common ground to move forward. The following recommendations are a combination of the results of that process and of the research prior to that event.

• Educate Union officials on mental health conditions and typical workplace accommodations.
• Utilize an existing structural model to support negotiating workplace accommodations.
• Explore ways in which Member Assistance Programs can expand their services to include people with mental health conditions.
• Review the mission of Unions to insure that people with mental health conditions are embraced in Unions' definitions of diversity.
• Establish uniform policy on how to frame, and advocate for, reasonable accommodation requests.
• Adopt specific language in collective bargaining agreements facilitating the implementation of reasonable accommodation and job retention rights for members with disabilities.
• Enhance access to apprenticeship programs.
• Generate educational materials for providers and consumers that explain whom to contact within the Union to discuss issues related to disability and develop a plan for the dissemination of these materials.
• Generate educational materials for Union members on mental health conditions and services available through the Union.
• Educate employers on the Union role in the accommodation process.
• Create partnership arrangements and referral networks with community mental health care providers, enhancing the options for assistance among Unions members and their dependents.
• Develop mechanisms to establish a partnership between Unions and community mental health care providers charged with identifying strategies for gaining public attention and funding for care for the working poor.
• Provide assistance to Unions in gaining policy review for the zero tolerance stance of public regulations. Encourage government to play a leadership role in this arena.
• Clarify the differences in language and expectations among the parties in the interest of better coordination and cooperation.

Conclusion

In sum, people with mental health conditions want to work, are able to work and have a right to work. Unions can be a powerful source of support to people with mental health conditions who are exercising this right. Union knowledge of workplace culture and job requirements, their ability to negotiate and advocate, and their similar experience gained from developing policies and structures for workers with substance abuse issues and their significant political power make Unions an invaluable partner for these workers and the community mental health system that provides them with vocational services. These opportunities will continue to be missed, however, without investment of resources to marshal the untapped potential.

Download the full report: Unions Helping Workers with Mental Health Conditions (PDF).