Home Health Aides Wage Contract Fight at People Care

August 14, 2014

More than 1,200 home health aides represented by 1199SEIU at the People Care Agency in the metropolitan NY area are locked in a contract fight and are prepared to strike if management doesn’t settle a fair agreement.

People Care, which has locations in New York City and New Jersey, has refused to settle a contract for months now. In fact, it is one of the few New York City homecare agencies that have refused to settle a new contract under the New York State’s Wage Parity Legislation. At the start of negotiations, People Care was refusing to pay into the the1199SEIU Homecare Benefit Fund, offering instead to pay for workers’ coverage under a lower quality health plan and to put the difference into a questionable employee stock ownership plan.

Members said “no way” and held a series of informational pickets at the company’s Manhattan office. The company relented and agreed to pay into into the 1199 Homecare Benefit Fund, but workers are still fighting for fair wages.

At a July 29 meeting at 1199SEIU’s Manhattan headquarters, People Care members voted overwhelmingly to take a strike vote unless management moved on their contract demands.

Negotiating committee member Norva Lewis told members that it was no longer business as usual. “The reason we are willing to go on strike is because we want the same wages and benefits as all of the other 70,000 1199SEIU home health aides,” said Lewis.

“I just came from negotiations and we have not reached an agreement. They want to give us what they want to give us and not what we’re asking for. It’s all about them making profits off our backs,” said 1199SEIU VP Keith Joseph.