Welcome to PCA Union InformationThis site is brought to you by concerned citizens including PCAs and members of the disability community who oppose the unionization of personal care attendants (PCAs). Personal care attendants, who are often referred to as personal care assistants, home health aides, home care workers, or personal assistants, are employees hired by the elderly or disabled persons they care for. They are not employees of the state and therefore should not be forced into a mandatory, exclusive relationship with a labor union, nor should they be required to pay hundreds of dollars per year in dues or involuntary fees to a union they do not wish to belong to.
In states across the country, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) have worked with politicians they helped elect, to reclassify these employees of people with disabilities and seniors as employees of the state for the sole purpose of unionization. While most of the PCAs paying dues and fees do not receive health insurance benefits and many have not received a significant increase in pay, this scheme has proven to be incredibly lucrative for the unions. Between dues, fair share or agency fees, and other negotiated contributions from the state, we estimate they have raked in hundreds of millions of dollars since this first began. We have compiled information from states that have unionized or attempted to unionize PCAs and are adding more information as we get it. If you are a PCA, please look closely at what has happened in each state that has unionized. The benefits negotiated into a union contract can be done without a union. Should your elected representatives really require you to pay hundreds of dollars per year to a union that supports them before they are willing to support you? |
News from the Supreme Court:
On October 1, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court granted a writ of certiorari in Harris v. Quinn, a case from Illinois that will decide whether homecare providers can be forced into union ranks against their will. The case was argued on January 21, 2014, and a ruling is expected by June. If the Supreme Court rules in favor of the plaintiffs and declares the unionization scheme a violation of the First Amendment right to select one's own representatives in lobbying the government, this would put an end to the forced unionization of PCAs nationwide:
http://www.nrtw.org/en/press/2013/10/supreme-court-review-illinois-homecare-case-10012013 The brief for the petitioners in Harris v. Quinn is at http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publications/supreme_court_preview/briefs-v3/11-681_pet.authcheckdam.pdf For more information Harris v. Quinn, please CLICK HERE. Attention Connecticut PCAs:SEIU has recently reached and ratified a tentative agreement with the Personal Care Attendant Workforce Council. The agreement awaits approval from the Connecticut General Assembly. CLICK HERE for more information on the unionization process in Connecticut.
Attention Minnesota PCAs:
SEIU has started knocking on doors and will soon begin collecting signatures for a unionzation election. CLICK HERE for more information on the unionization process in Minnesota.
We would like to give a special thanks to Stephen Mendelsohn and Cathy Ludlum, advocates of the disability community who have spent countless hours compiling information and resources to share with others. Your tremendous contribution to this cause is what made this website possible. Thank you! |
