Home Care
More than 35,000 home care workers are united in SEIU Healthcare Illinois & Indiana. Every day, we provide essential care that helps keep tens of thousands of seniors and people with disabilities healthy and in their homes and communities.
SEIU Healthcare members work as Personal Assistants in the Illinois Department of Human Services/Office of Rehabilitation Services, and as home care aides at agencies across Illinois, Indiana and Missouri. Since 1983—when home care was a minimum-wage job, with no benefits–home care workers have fought for and won living wages and healthcare for home care workers, protected quality home care for seniors and people with disabilities from state budget cuts, and to expand home care to more consumers.
Every day, more home health aides in Indiana, Illinois and Missouri are joining the growing movement of caregivers for quality home care for all consumers, and living wages, healthcare and respect for the home care workforce.
“Nothing stops a bullet like a job”: 6th ward residents unite against gun violence, unemployment
Child care, home care, nursing home, and hospital workers organized a candlelight vigil against gun violence in Chicago’s Chatham neighborhood this month, highlighting a need for greater job opportunities to keep young people away from gangs.
Members of SEIU and the Chatham neighborhood displayed flyers about the connections between gun violence and a lack of economic opportunity in the community.
Members held the vigil on the site of a tragic shooting. On Nov. 5th, 2011, three innocent bystanders, two men and one woman, all in their 20s, were killed in the parking lot of Church’s Chicken and A Piece of Cake bakery on 87th and South King Drive. The woman who was slain was picking up a birthday cake for her two-year-old daughter. No one has been charged in the shooting.
Several residents of the 6th Ward who have been shot, or whose loved ones have been shot, spoke about the physical and psychological pain of dealing with shootings in their neighborhoods. Home care worker Cynthia Youngblood, who also works part-time for Chicago Public Schools helping special needs children, almost lost her 17-year-old daughter when she was shot twice by random gunfire last June. Her daughter Diamond was hospitalized for 15 days and still needs crutches. Seven months later, Cynthia still has to take significant time off work, unpaid, in order to take her daughter to physical rehabilitation, counseling and medical visits.
“Every time I take my daughter to physical rehab or counseling it means I’m not able to work. We struggle to get by. Those two bullets did a lot of damage to my daughter and to our family,” said Youngblood. “Why are we dealing with random gunfire in our neighborhoods? We need to build-up our communities by creating jobs, not tearing our neighborhoods apart,” Youngblood said.
6th ward alderman Roderick Sawyer came out to support our anti-violence initiative.
Child care worker Jacqueline Smith was shot in the back in September 2008 in the Gresham neighborhood. Jacqueline, who had just watched the four young children that she was caring for leave her home, was struck by a stray bullet that almost punctured her lung. Three other bullets struck the outside of her house but the children weren’t injured. Jacqueline eventually moved her child care service to the 6th Ward, thinking it would be a safer and quieter place to continue her business, but she worries that the community where she wanted to restart her life is becoming more and more dangerous.
“Let’s be honest, we have too many young men who don’t have jobs and don’t see any way that they can contribute their lives towards a future. We simply can’t allow our young people to slip through the cracks because they can’t find meaningful work,” said Smith, who could not attend the vigil but offered a statement. “If we want to reduce violence, we have to start by giving people a purpose and a job with a livable wage.”
The candlelight ceremony will be the first of many opportunities for members, residents and community partners to become involved in actions against neighborhood violence and the lack of job opportunities that allows it to flourish. Members are creating a community-based coalition in the 6th Ward to advocate for solutions, aiming to mobilize union members and to partner with interfaith groups and churches, non-profit organizations, small businesses, and civic leaders to create jobs, improve schools, reduce home foreclosures, prevent violence, and encourage economic development and investment in the 6th Ward.
Watch Alderman Sawyer and Cynthia and Diamond Youngblood address gun violence in their community:
Major victory for home care workers: Chicago’s Gilda Brown becomes a piece of home care history
Chicago home care worker Gilda Brown became a part of home care history when she stood by President Obama in Washington, DC as he announced a major victory for home care workers.
The US Department of Labor is moving forward to amend regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act [FLSA] to include the nearly two million home care workers who had been excluded from federal overtime and minimum wage protections. This long-overdue change not only guarantees the same rights and protections for home care workers as other workers have enjoyed for decades, but continues to reinforce the fact that home care is real, important work that our nation depends on.
Gilda Brown, far left, stands with President Obama and other home care workers and consumers as he announces new overtime and minimum wage protections for home care workers.
“It was so exciting to be there with the President, to be part of something so historic,” said Gilda. Gilda worked on Obama’s 2008 campaign, but hadn’t gotten to meet him face-to-face until her recent trip to the nation’s capitol.
“Before he made the announcement, he told us that even though some people don’t take this work seriously, he knows how important home care is. He told his staff that this change was past overdue and that nobody could go on vacation until they got it done and signed,” Gilda said. Before this announcement, President Obama walked a day in another home care provider’s shoes, to gain an understanding of just how important home care is to working families across America.
“Now more than ever, every job in our country must be a good job that can sustain a family, strengthen our communities and move our country forward. Very soon, every caregiver in America will be equal in the eyes of the law and equally protected,” said SEIU President Mary Kay Henry in response to this victory.
“The President went to shake my hand and I told him I wanted a kiss,” said Gilda. “That was the most exciting part!”
See the video of President Obama’s announcement.
Better watch out, CME Grinches: the 99% is coming to town!
SEIU Healthcare Illinois and Indiana members spread a little Christmas cheer at the Chicago Board of Trade last week, conducting a Salvation Army-style mock charity drive for the CME Group.
"We see you when you're stealing, we need you to atone, we know when you make money, so you better leave us alone!"
The CME Group has made headlines recently as its bid for a $100 million state tax break was overwhelmingly defeated by the Illinois House of Representatives, but the group’s demand for corporate welfare is likely to resurface in Springfield. Despite earning $900 million in profits last year, the CME Group has repeatedly threatened to leave the state, taking its jobs with it, if legislators don’t pander to its demands for a taxpayer handout.
In spite of members’ Santa hats, festive bells, and lovely singing voices belting adapted Christmas carols like “CME gets tax breaks, and we get charged more, they’re the Grinch that stole Christmas, stealing from the poor!” to the tune of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” few passersby seemed interested in giving to the rich this holiday season.
"Taking money from the many, stealing taxes penny by penny!"
“These people have their hands out to get even more money from taxpayers, money we should be spending on things that the poor and the middle class need, like job creation and Medicare. People are losing their homes, their jobs, they don’t have money for food, and the CME is threatening to take their jobs out of the state if we don’t give them $100 million? Everyone knows that’s a scare tactic. It’s blackmail,” said DORS PA Flora Johnson.
After the demonstration at the Board of Trade, members went across the street to the Occupy Chicago site at Jackson and LaSalle to deliver lunches to protesters there.
See video from the demonstration:
MO and IN members team up to beat bad bill in Ohio
When Ohio Governor John Kasich followed in Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s footsteps by signing a bill (SB5) decimating the collective bargaining rights of public sector employees, SEIU Healthcare members jumped up to stop him.
Members knocked knocked on almost 7000 doors in a week to educate Ohio voters about SB5. Their efforts helped the bill to be repealed!
Unlike Wisconsin’s, Ohio’s constitution allows for a citizen’s veto, giving residents a chance to bring a bad bill to a ballot–if they can gather enough signatures.
With help from fifteen of our members, organizers gathered 1.3 million signatures, giving voters the opportunity to send the message that working people aren’t going to accept attacks on our bargaining rights.
“These Republican governors all over the country are trying to cut out the middle class. We want the whole country to see what’s going on and say, enough is enough,” said McKinley Williams, a groundskeeper at Methodist Hospital in Gary, IN who spent a week in Cleveland knocking on doors to educate residents about the devastating impact of SB5.
“I met a lot of people in the area whose lives would have been immediately affected by this bill–teachers, state workers, city workers, and more,” said Ella Giles, a home care worker in St. Louis. “But even most of the people who weren’t going to be affected right away were on our side, because people know that once they start chipping away at working people, it’s only a matter of time before they start chipping away at you.”
Excluding Election Day, Williams, Giles, and other members knocked on 6842 doors and had 2152 conversations with voters in just one week, getting support from more than 90% of them and leading 61% of Ohio voters to repeal the bad bill. As Gov. Walker’s recall heats up in Wisconsin, this victory not only protects good jobs for thousands of Ohio residents, but will have a real impact on our efforts to protect bargaining rights for working people all over the United States.
“The most recent polls show that the majority of people in Wisconsin want to recall Scott Walker,” McKinley said. “I’m fired up and ready to go to Wisconsin next!”
Fighting for our safety net in Gary, IN
Health care workers, elected officials, patients, and allies joined the growing chorus of Americans speaking out to protect vital Medicare and Medicaid funding at a rally in Gary, Indiana earlier this week.
While Congress decides whether to invest in the health of working people by continuing to fund Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security or to continue granting tax breaks to big banks and corporations, people like home care worker Vicky Hernandez are fighting hard to help Congress understand the devastating impact that funding cuts could have on some of our most vulnerable citizens.
“Medicaid pays for my consumer’s medication and for me to be there to help with things like showering, eating, and going to the bathroom–things that we all take for granted. Our lawmakers don’t have to think about losing these things. They don’t realize what these cuts mean,” Vicky said.
Home care worker Vicky Hernandez speaks out for her consumer, who relies on Medicaid to pay for the program that keeps her safe and independent living in her home.
In addition to the impact cuts would have on consumers, Vicky and other speakers at the rally addressed the impact cuts could have on our economy.
“If these cuts happen, patients will suffer. But so will thousands of health care workers who will lose their jobs. Cutting programs that keep people healthy and employed is no way to fix our economy,” said Tony Marshall, a CNA at Methodist Hospital in Gary, IN.
More and more of us are getting together to tell Congress that vital funding for Medicare, Medicaid, and child care programs is the last thing they should cut. Read more about our upcoming National Day of Action and find out how you can get involved.
Hear more from Tony and Vicky at the rally:
Members ally with seniors to protect Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security
Traffic outside of Chicago’s Federal Plaza ground to a halt on November 7th as SEIU Healthcare Illinois and Indiana members, seniors, community, labor, and religious allies, and more gathered to urge elected officials to keep Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security fully funded.
Before nearly 50 activists were peacefully arrested for occupying the Jackson and Clark intersection, hundreds gathered in the Plaza itself to hear testimony from elected officials and from those who would be devastated by a federal budget that slashes safety-net funding.
Flora Johnson spoke to defend her son's health care and independence.
Home care member Flora Johnson brought her son Kenneth, who has cerebral palsy, to the action to illustrate what these programs mean for thousands of Illinois families.
“If Congress cuts these programs, my son could lose his wheelchair because if it breaks, I can’t afford to fix it. He wouldn’t be able to get his flu shots and asthma medication,” Flora said, addressing the crowd. “I’ve worked all my life and contributed to society, and like millions of others, I’m telling Congress to save Medicaid and make the wealthy pay their fair share!”
Rose Crawford, a Chicago PA, took arrest to help send the message that cutting Medicaid and other programs is bad for everyone–those who need care, those who work to provide it, and the economy as a whole.
“My client is a 59-year-old man with degenerative arthritis and COPD. He can’t stand up to make food for himself and clean his house, but he can live in his home with dignity if he has a little help. If Congress cuts these programs, he’ll be institutionalized in a nursing home that costs the state more than home care does, and I’ll be out of work and in the unemployment line. That’s why we’re out here, taking the streets and getting arrested–these programs matter.”
Visit our photostream to see more pictures of this event.
Members took to the streets shouting slogans like "You say cut back? We say fight back!"
Paid training for Personal Assistants starts this month!
By standing together in our Union, Personal Assistants won training for the first time in our Union contract that will improve the high-quality care we provide consumers!
Training is starting in November and December with hands-on classes designed for healthcare providers like us: First Aid, CPR and Defibrillator Use; Universal Precautions; and Body Mechanics and Safe Lifting. The classes will be FREE for Personal Assistants. You have the opportunity to gain these skills with the full cost paid for by your new SEIU Member Education and Training Center. PAs will receive 3 hours pay to attend most classes, but will not be paid to attend Red Cross classes.
To register, call the Member Education and Training Center at 877-456-4477. Watch your mail for information about more classes starting soon!
Missouri Home Care Union, SEIU Healthcare, and more march for jobs, homes, schools in St. Louis
Hundreds of MHCU and SEIU members, other laborers, students, seniors, activists, and the unemployed rallied in St. Louis on October 14th, in yet another action fueled by the indignation at corporate greed spreading across the country. (more…)
My Medicaid Matters! Home care consumers, providers, and advocates rally with ADAPT in DC for real Medicaid reform
On September 21, more than a thousand home care consumers, providers, and advocates traveled to Washington, DC to rally and lobby for Medicaid reform that contains costs without sacrificing the needs and rights of seniors and people with disabilities.
UPDATE: Home care providers, consumers, and advocates call to end Missouri’s contract with SynCare
In a series of rallies across Missouri, home care agencies, providers and consumers called on state officials to end a contract with SynCare, Inc., an Indiana company hired to assess the home health care needs of Medicaid-eligible seniors and people with disabilities. (more…)