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PrintJEFFERSON CITY — Thousands of Missourians who provide in-home care to the disabled or elderly can expect to soon learn the outcome of a unionization drive.
The state is to begin counting votes Wednesday in an election on whether the Missouri Home Care Union should represent workers who help people with daily activities such as bathing, dressing, cooking and cleaning.
The new union is a joint venture of the Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
The unionization effort was made possible by a ballot measure approved last year by Missouri voters. That proposal created the Missouri Quality Homecare Council, under which personal care attendants can seek to organize as a collective bargaining unit.
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This is nice but will it ensure the quality of employee these companies actually require and in turn ensure the disabled and the elderly the highest quality of in home health care worker they deserve?
The bigger question is how many disabled/elderly in need of service will no longer be able to afford it (or as much of it)?
They'll typically be the same workers, so the quality will likely not change significantly. Perhaps higher wages and benefits will draw a higher quality of employee to the field in the future, but that may be mitigated by fewer people being able to employ them.
DK
>>> Mark Foecking July 22, 2009 | 12:52 p.m.
The bigger question is how many disabled/elderly in need of service will no longer be able to afford it (or as much of it)? <<<
The people I know who are elderly or disabled Mark pay nothing for their in home health care workers. This is a service provided by Medicaid/Medicare.
Now maybe the two M's will desire higher standards though of care from those choosing to go union in this issue.
My guess is that the only people who will benefit from this will be union and government bureaucrats.
Since Blunt cuts and forced changes in SIL, (which acted as the "clearing house" for many PCA's), many elderly and disabled have had eligibility hours cut.
Many disability advocates were fooled to believe that unionization would be a good thing. Curious that they'd start with the lowest "health care" related job for unionization. How does this "unionization" tie into the overall liberal progressive "health care" agenda? The unions of today are very different from the unions of yesteryear.
I don't see any other industries having unions popping up.
What's the ultimate goal? Disband the AMA and arrange for a union to oversee physicians?
No surprise that the government would start with the least powerful and influential. The elderly, the disabled and struggling PCA's.
Who's next to get sucked into the union/government connection?
Time will tell.