By LEAH WARD

YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

Union fever is heating up at Yakima County's two Head Start agencies.

Teachers and staff at EPIC have voted overwhelmingly to join the Service Employees International Union, while employees at the Washington State Migrant Council are preparing to vote on representation by the American Federation of Teachers and the Washington Federation of State Employees.

In a joint effort called Teachers United, the two unions want to organize about 725 teachers, aides and staff members at the Migrant Council. The vote will be counted Nov. 17.

The agency's new executive director, Tadeo Saenz, who has been on the job since late July, said employees have some long-standing, valid concerns, and he noted there was an unsuccessful union organizing drive several years ago.

But Saenz said some may be uncomfortable with the changes he's been making at the organization, which has long battled allegations of mismanagement, nepotism and corruption.

Saenz said he was hired by the board and the advisory parent councils to stabilize funding, improve compliance with federal regulations and develop the staff. "I came here to promote change," Saenz said.

Saenz came from the Oregon Child Development Coalition in Wilsonville, where he was the director of resource management. The coalition is a similar-size agency that is not unionized.

Teachers United said it has been able to boost wages and improve health-care benefits at other Head Start programs it has organized across the country. For example, a union pamphlet states that entry level aides at the Migrant Council make $8.30 an hour compared with $12.14 to $15.66 an hour at unionized programs.

Laura Reisdorph, union spokeswoman in Olympia, said the issues for workers aren't related to changes in management. Employees, she said, support sound, well-funded, well-run programs.

"But I think there are some issues that stand out for workers, such as equitable wages and access to health care," she said.

The Migrant Council, headquartered in Sunnyside, operates 27 learning centers across the state, providing early childhood education and other programs to the working poor in rural communities.

The bulk of the Migrant Council's $30 million budget comes from federal funding of Head Start, the early-learning program pioneered in the 1960s.

The union drive began in July, just before the Migrant Council board hired a new executive director to replace Carlos Diaz, the longtime head of the organization.

Teachers United has written to federal Head Start officials, saying the Migrant Council improperly used federal Head Start funds to interfere with employees' rights to organize.

"I think that's baseless," Saenz said.

Teachers United also filed an unfair labor practices charge, alleging that management has threatened employees with the loss of wages and employment for participating in the union drive.

Saenz said management is aware of employees' rights and has not intimidated anyone.

At EPIC, which stands for Enterprise for Progress in the Community, early-learning teachers and staff voted 165-54 to join SEIU Local 925, according to a union news release issued last week. The new bargaining union will cover about 300 employees.

Cindy Ramales, a teacher at EPIC's site in Prosser, said the union will help employees and staff in ways that will benefit children.

"We really feel this will help us make gains and keep the best staff at EPIC so we can provide the highest quality Head Start for the children we serve."

Steve Mitchell, interim chief executive at EPIC, declined to comment on the union vote.

• Leah Beth Ward can be reached at 577-7626 or lward@yakimaherald.com.