SEIU, Addus renew national home care agreement

Home care aides from across Illinois & Indiana gathered in Chicago on Tues., Feb. 10th to celebrate the renewed national agreement between SEIU and Addus HealthCare, Inc. The agreement covers 10,000 home care workers in 11 states, protects workers and will raise standards for quality care for seniors and people with disabilities.

Home care aides were joined by SEIU President Andy Stern, SEIU Healthcare Illinois & Indiana President Keith Kelleher and Addus HealthCare CEO Mark Heaney in celebrating the new agreement, which will enable the county’s largest union and one of the fastest-growing home care agencies to work together to improve federal and state funding for home care and raise standards for consumer care.

“This renewal is very important to me. Since we established the initial agreement, we have all seen positive results,” said Alberta Walker, home care aide of nine years and a vice chair on the executive board of SEIU Healthcare Illinois & Indiana. “Thousands of home care workers have joined SEIU Healthcare as a result. We can lobby more diligently for better federal and state funding to improve the services for our consumers. We can retain and recruit the best home care aides in the industry with better wages and access to health care. And we can help Addus offer the kind of high-quality, in-home care that seniors want.”

The national agreement between SEIU and Addus HealthCare began in 2003—the first agreement between the union and a home care agency. The national contract addressed non-economic issues and provided workers with the right to organize nationally, streamlined negotiations, and set higher standards for thousands of home care aides.

In Indiana, Addus home care aides united in SEIU negotiated their first local wage agreement in 2008. In Illinois, Addus home care aides celebrated a new local agreement that raised wages by at least $1 per hour and provided first-ever healthcare to thousands of home care aides.