Unionized Home-Care Will Increase Costs in Oregon
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Brian M Johnson
12 NOVEMBER 2007
202-785-0266
Unionized Home-Care Will Increase Costs
SEIU Expands their Union Net at Every Opportunity
Washington, D.C. — Today, the Alliance for Worker Freedom (AWF) condemned the recent in-home adult care unionization efforts in Oregon by the Services Employees International Union (SEIU). Similar to the unionization of child-care providers, the SEIU will stop at nothing to increase their ranks of dues-paying members at the expense of raising costs and compulsory dues paying.
“Many providers work from their homes and are independent contractors”, says AWF policy director Brian Johnson. “By classifying independent contractors as state government employees, and enabling wage extortion through union bargaining, Oregon is dangerously curtailing local workers’ rights. Not only would this set dangerous precedent, but the market forces required to maintain a balance of access, affordability and quality will be thrown by the wayside.”
This is not the first attempt the SEIU has made at forcing the unionization of independent contractors. Their most recent efforts in Maryland to create child-care unions have created much controversy due to their tactics of intimidation and harassment. The Maryland case is currently pending as the Maryland State Family Child Care Association brought forth a lawsuit against this effort claiming “representation will increase costs for home day care providers.”
Complementing the SEIU’s card-signing efforts, Governor Ten Kulongoski issued an executive order forcing the state to engage in collective bargaining with the SEIU.
“When states cave and force collective bargaining, everyone loses,” says Johnson. “These ‘rights’ are used by union bosses to extort money from the state and dominate the market. Union’s pressure groups, and they represent the overpaid bosses, NOT the sick or elderly. Therefore, they will bargain on behalf of what they think they have to do to placate the individual contractor, rather than what are the best interests of the people who need the care,” says Johnson.
