Missouri Home Care Providers Vote for Union

July 24, 2009

FLEXING THEIR MUSCLE – Missouri Home Care Union members lobbied state lawmakers earlier this year for expanded Medicaid coverage for their consumers. (Photo credit: Jeff Pittman)

Thousands of independent home care providers across the state have said “Yes!” to representation by the Missouri Home Care Union, an affiliate of AFSCME Council 72.

Some 13,000 providers – also known as personal care attendants – will now have power to negotiate for real improvements in the state’s consumer-directed Home Care Program.

The care givers, whose dedication allows elderly and disabled patients to live outside of nursing homes, petitioned the state in March to conduct an election. Counted on July 22, their mail-in votes demonstrated an overwhelming 85 percent support for the union. The election – conducted by the state Board of Mediation – was the largest of its kind in the state’s history.

“This is fantastic news for caregivers like me and Missourians who rely on home care,” says Salem provider Threasa Bach. “The next step is to join forces with consumers to make home care better and available to more residents.”

Through their new union, the providers plan to address their lack of health insurance benefits, sick leave and vacation benefits, which make it difficult for the caregivers to remain on the job. Forty to 60 percent of the providers leave their jobs each year to seek positions with benefits or higher compensation.

The state’s voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure last November making it possible for providers to build their own home care union, saving the state millions of dollars that otherwise would be spent on public and private nursing facilities.

Read more about the providers’ efforts to build a union in these stories in the Associated Press story, NBC affiliate KOMUand also in AFSCME WORKS magazine. To learn how AFSCME supports home care providers, visit the Home Care sectionof AFSCME.org.

The Missouri Home Care Union is an alliance between AFSCME and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).