MANCHESTER — The parking lot was empty and all was quiet outside Planned Parenthood’s Manchester health clinic on Saturday until just before 2 p.m. when staff members started to show up. But they weren’t showing up for a normal shift. They were showing up for a rally.
Workers at Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (PPNNE), known for providing low-cost reproductive health care, have organized a union and are in the midst of negotiating their first contract.
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