Home Care
Nation’s Home Care Workers Win Major Victory
Washington, D.C. – Today home care workers across the nation won a major victory with the announcement of new minimum wage and overtime protections for home care workers. Today’s action followed years of advocacy for home care workers including members of SEIU.
Click the link below for an inspiring video from the White House:
Get the Facts About SEIU Healthcare Michigan and the Quality Community Care Council
Right-wing groups such as the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and other special interest groups are attacking the Michigan Quality Community Care Council (MQC3), which helps coordinate homecare services for seniors and persons with disabilities in Michigan. They are doing it by going after our union, which represents many of the state’s homecare workers. Here are the facts:
MYTH: Homecare workers are being “forced” to join a union.
FACT: Federal law expressly prohibits so-called “forced unionization.” This has been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.[1] SEIU Healthcare Michigan notifies its members every year in writing that they may leave the union if they wish. Those who choose to leave are required by law to pay a smaller “fair share cost,” which goes toward only the expenses related directly to collective bargaining.
MYTH: The MQC3 was created to organize homecare workers.
FACT: In 2003, 15 statewide senior and disability rights groups came together to advocate for the creation of the MQC3, to ensure citizens have access to safe, quality homecare. Two years later, homecare workers decided to form a union. For more information about the MQC3 click here: www. http://savemihomecare.org
MYTH: The unionization of home care workers was done secretly and illegally.
FACT: The unionization effort was done openly and legally. More than 20,000 homecare workers signed cards saying they wanted to unionize, triggering an election. The election was conducted by the Michigan Employment Relations Commission. SEIU Healthcare Michigan sent out five pieces of mail to homecare workers prior to MERC’s sending out the ballots to every registered homecare worker in the state. Homecare workers agreed to unionize by a nearly 7-to-1 vote. SEIU Healthcare Michigan sent out press releases to news media across the state announcing the election results.
MYTH: The union provides no benefits to its members.
FACT: SEIU Healthcare Michigan has been able to bargain for three wage increases for homecare workers in the last five years, boosting wages by up to 55%. Members pay only 2.75% in dues. SEIU also provides access to critical training, including adult first aid, CPR, proper lifting techniques, infection control measures, nutrition, and training in working with patients with Alzheimer’s and dementia.
MYTH: Homecare workers aren’t actually “workers,” but rather people who receive subsidies from the state.
FACT: Homecare workers — including those who care for a family member — receive paychecks from the State of Michigan. They earn an hourly wage set by the state’s Department of Community Health, pay employment-related taxes, receive W-2s from the State of Michigan and are eligible for unemployment benefits. They are considered by law to be public employees as a result.[2]
MYTH: The Mackinac Center for Public Policy is a non-partisan research and educational institute.
FACT: The Mackinac Center is an anti-union political organization funded by right-wing groups like the Heritage Foundation, the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation, the Walton Family Foundation, the ExxonMobil Foundation, and the J.P. Morgan Chase Foundation. [3]
[1]Communications Workers of Amer. v. Beck, 487 U.S. 735 (1988), No. 86-637)
[2] Harris v. Quinn, (3d Cir. 1993)
[3]http://www.sourcewatch.org
Home Care Timeline
Year by year, side by side, victory by victory! 
2002: Dozens of senior and disability rights groups, civil, religious and community organizations join with SEIU to support home care workers.
2003: Home care workers mobilize to defeat a proposed $17 million cut to the Home Help program.
2004: Home care workers educate the state legislature on issues affecting caregivers and their families, holding a summit at the State Capitol.
2005: Michigan home care providers formally vote to join SEIU.
2006: Home care workers ratify their first-ever contract that includes a raise and a registry to match providers and consumers.
2007: The Healthcare Workers Training Center opens, providing GED classes, MIOSHA Health and Safety Trainings as well as a career ladder for home care workers. Home care workers win a second wage increase.
2008: SEIU home care workers win inclusion in Michigan’s Minimum Wage Law and secure another wage increase.
2009: Home care members participated in hearings in Lansing prompting lawmakers to add $13.5 million in home care wage increases to the budget.
2010: Home care workers across the state write letters to lawmakers urging support for the Home Help program stopping proposed cuts to the program.
2011: Home care workers across Michigan and the country continue to speak out for quality care and a voice on the job winning historic protections from the U.S. Department of Labor.