Home Care Workers

Adult Foster Home Care Providers Win 1st-in-Nation Contract in Oregon

SEIU Local 503 adult foster home care providers have negotiated a historic one-year agreement with the State of Oregon after seven months of bargaining, becoming the first such workers in the U.S. to win a union contract. The agreement covers about 3,500 providers and includes provisions such as a monthly increase in service fees and a new training program.

Strike may be only option for Timmins area Home Care workers

TORONTO, July 15 /CNW/ - After contract bargaining between members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1 Canada and the Red Cross have broken down after weeks of negotiation, Timmins Home Care workers cast their votes yesterday on whether to strike.

"At this point the Red Cross has no intention of giving a fair contract,"says SEIU's Chief Negotiator, Cathy Carroll. "The employer is offering insufficient compensation for the value of work, skill and contribution that Home Care workers provide their clients and the Ontario health care system. The Red Cross's proposal - from an organization viewed by the public as flag bearer of compassion - not only denies their home care workers a fair wage, it denies them the kind of dignity that you think the Red Cross would be the champion of."

Despite the assistance of a conciliation officer from the Ministry of Labour, the SEIU home care negotiating team was forced to reject the Red Cross's latest proposal, citing the employer's unwillingness to address compensation for travel time, offer sufficient improvement on mileage allowance, sick leave provisions, benefits, or provide a vacation equivalent to allow Home Care providers to catch up with other health care workers.

"The employer claims that travel time, our Home Care members' highest priority, is a nonstarter," Carroll says. "How can you deny a Home Care worker's claim for travel compensation when so many Home Care workers spend hours travelling from one client to another in a single day? As a result of the breakdown in negotiations, strike votes are scheduled across the province from Jun. 13 to Jul. 25. Bargaining is scheduled to resume Jul 30 and 31."

SEIU Home Care workers expect to return with a strong mandate to strike if required.

SEIU Local 1 Canada represents 46,000 health care workers in hospitals, long term care, nursing and seniors' homes, and community services in Ontario.

NYT: As Gas Prices Soar, Elderly Face Cuts in Aid

By JOHN LELAND
Published: July 5, 2008
 
SOUTH HAVEN, Mich. — Early last month, Jeanne Fair, 62, got her first hot meals delivered to her home in this lake town in the sparsely populated southwestern part of the state. Then after two deliveries the meals stopped because gas prices had made the delivery too expensive.

“They called and said I was outside of the delivery area,” said Mrs. Fair, who is homebound and has not been able to use her left arm since a stroke in 1997.

Faced with soaring gasoline prices, agencies around the country that provide services to the elderly say they are having to cut back on programs like Meals on Wheels, transportation assistance and home care, especially in rural areas that depend on volunteers who provide their own gas. In a recent survey by the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, more than half said they had already cut back on programs because of gas costs, and 90 percent said they expected to make cuts in the 2009 fiscal year.

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SEIU Bill Introduced to Ensure Fair Pay for Home Care Workers

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Wednesday introduced the Fair Home Health Care Act of 2007 “to honor the extraordinary value of the work that home health care workers do” and ensure fair pay. This SEIU-proposed legislation is a response to the June Supreme Court decision that maintained home care workers are not entitled to minimum wage and overtime protections under the Fair Labor Standards Act. More

Ohio Home Care Workers Vote Overwhelmingly to Unite in SEIU

7,000 home care workers voted by over a 5-to-1 margin in Ohio’s largest-ever union election to unite with SEIU District 1199 WKO. The workers will now be able to negotiate for better wages and benefits, more training opportunities, and expanded funding for home and community based care, which will help ensure people with disabilities and seniors get the care they need to live independently in their own homes and workers get improved pay and benefits to support their families.

25,000 Homecare Workers Set to Vote to Join SEIU

After two years of work, Personal Care Attendants (PCAs) in Mass. will have the opportunity to join 1199SEIU, the largest and fastest growing health care workers union in the world. Ballots for the election (to be the largest single unit election ever in New England) will be mailed Oct. 16th and counted Nov. 7th.