Missouri - Home Care Attendants Choose AFSCME - Again!
Victory At Last! - Missouri home care attendants celebrate their vote to join with the Missouri Home Care Union. Standing at the podium is attendant Jeanetta Caw with her consumer, Janet Wilson.
Victory At Last! - Missouri home care attendants celebrate their vote to join with the Missouri Home Care Union. Standing at the podium is attendant Jeanetta Caw with her consumer, Janet Wilson (green shirt). Others are (from far left) consumers Clarence Mitchell and Bob Pund; and Lara Granich, director of Missouri Jobs with Justice. (Photo credit: Lloyd Grotjan)
In one of the nation’s largest union elections in recent years, approximately 12,000 home care attendants throughout Missouri voted overwhelmingly to gain respect for the work they do — and to improve the lives of those in their care — through the Missouri Home Care Union.
“This is a great day for me and my consumer,” says attendant Jeanetta Caw of St. Joseph. “And it comes not a minute too soon with more budget cuts threatening our important service. This election victory brings together thousands of attendants and our consumers to protect home care with a more powerful voice.”
“Thousands of Missouri families rely on home care workers to help their loved ones live independent lives,” adds President McEntee. “We will use our combined voices to fight unnecessary cuts that threaten quality home care services.”
This was the second time that the attendants declared their intent to be represented by the Missouri Home Care Union, a partnership between AFSCME Council 72 and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Although they voted overwhelmingly to join the Missouri Home Care Union last summer, their ballots were immediately challenged in court by Integra Health Care Inc., based in Springfield, Mo.
A judge temporarily blocked certification of their original vote pending resolution of the legal dispute. But, at the union’s request, the court agreed to call for a new election, which was held in May.
The providers now have the power to negotiate for improvements in the state’s consumer-directed Home Care Program, and to reverse issues like no health insurance, or paid sick and vacation days.
With the addition of the Missouri attendants, AFSCME now represents approximately 95,000 independent home care providers nationwide.
