MN: Home care workers and state reach agreement on first contract

[Omaha Steve]

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Joined by their clients, Minnesota home health care workers filed for a union representation election in July. Workday Minnesota photo


http://www.workdayminnesota.org/articles/home-care-workers-and-state-reach-agreement-first-contract

January 15, 2015

ST. PAUL
Home care workers and the state of Minnesota have reached an agreement on a first contract for the 27,000 home care workers represented by SEIU Healthcare Minnesota, the union announced Thursday.

The tentative agreement will be brought to members of the union for ratification in the coming weeks. If members vote to approve it, the Legislature will then vote on its ratification.

When home care workers were fighting at the Capitol to get the right to form their union, the pay floor was $6.15. In surveys conducted by the union, over 20 percent of workers said they had lost wages at some point as a home care worker. Workers also noted the lack of training they receive, despite their important work. The contract that workers will be voting on would move the floor to $11.00 per hour, provides funding for training and gives workers protections against situations where they are not paid for their work.

Francis Hall, a home care worker from Crosby and also a member of the bargaining team, stressed the importance of this contract for both home care workers – the fastest-growing job in the country - and the clients they serve.

FULL story at link.