Two of the most powerful groups in Salem are at loggerheads over a public records request.
At issue: a request that Service Employees International Union filed last November with the Oregon Department of Human Services.
SEIU, Oregon’s largest public employee union, with 72,000 members, asked the agency for a list of names of people who had applied for a DHS criminal background check. Such a check is a necessary step in getting a job in care industries that serve older, developmentally disabled or otherwise vulnerable Oregonians. Although employers in the care industry are private companies, DHS regulates them and has a background check unit that vets all prospective workers…