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UDW Homecare Providers Union
AFSCME Local 3930, AFL-CIO
Supporting home care for Californians — the compassionate and cost effective alternative to institutionalized care
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Background; Who we are, and why we are unique among unions…
UDW Homecare Providers Union is a labor union founded in 1979 to represent in-home care providers. These are the dedicated people who cook, clean, and provide domestic chores and personal care to the elderly, blind and disabled; those who are too sick, frail, or disadvantaged to care for themselves. California provides these services to income-eligible individuals through a program called In Home Supportive Services (IHSS). IHSS is designed to be a cost effective, more personal, alternative to the segregation and isolation of the elderly and persons with disabilities in nursing homes or institutions. Many of these institutions are known to provide inadequate or even negligent care. The IHSS program, in contrast, allows those who need help to survive in their own homes the freedom to choose, hire, train, and direct their personal attendants. The IHSS program provides compassionate care in a structure where the taxpayer does not pay for housing, food and other costs associated with institutions so that tax dollars go directly to the support of the person in need, rather than massive infrastructure and administration.
Photo by Steve Yeater
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The fundamental right of our aging and disabled population to live at home and receive homecare has been a long road. In 1999 the Supreme Court ruled to uphold the “integration mandate” of the Americans with Disabilities Act. In this landmark (Olmstead) decision, the court upheld that persons with a disability have a civil right under the Americans with Disabilities Act to live in the most “integrated” setting. That means in their homes – within the community – rather than a state run institution or nursing home.
Yet the struggle to push for enforcement and state compliance continues. This basic civil right was largely ignored during the Bush administration, and many Olmstead challenges were simply not responded to. With the Obama administration there has been more support at the federal level. While numerous credible studies show that it is far more cost effective for people to stay in their own homes, many states do not fund programs that provide alternatives to institutions such as IHSS.
When homecare providers are unionized, as in California, these vulnerable citizens and their home attendants have advocates to fight for their rights.
UDW was the first and remains the ONLY union in California that exclusively represents homecare workers – not institutional employees. We are single minded in our fight for the rights of the disabled and elderly to STAY IN THEIR HOMES. And while federal policy and the Supreme Court agree with this as a basic civil right, state funding is still biased toward institutions while cuts are directed at homecare.
In 2010 UDW spearheaded a massive movement to stop cuts and restore services in California. We were a leader in the March for California’s Future, and together with your help we were also instrumental in getting Gerry Brown elected after Meg Whitman showed her anti-IHSS bias.
As you know 2011 has turned out to be another tough fight to stop the state from cutting funds to IHSS in spite of the fact that largely due to this program, California’s costs for long term care of the disabled and elderly are lower than in other states which don’t have IHSS.
We are bringing this message to Washington DC, to Sacramento, to your local County Board of Supervisors, and to your community leaders. Together with your brothers and sisters in the labor movement, we are taking your message to all of our elected leaders.
DEMAND YOUR RIGHTS — TAKE ACTION TO SAVE HOMECARE
More information:
- Homecare as a Civil Right: Investigative Series by Joseph Shapiro on National Public Radio
- Landmark 1999 Olmstead Decision
- Americans with Disabilities Act
Read About UDW History & Milestones
United Domestic Workers of America; delegates, staff, family, clients & supporters at the AFSCME 2008 Convention.
