Union Could Bag 190,000 New Home Care Workers in Medicaid-Funded Program

The powerful healthcare union 1199SEIU formally petitioned to unionize tens of thousands of home care workers across the state, the latest twist in New York’s controversial quest to streamline an $11 billion state-funded home care program.

The union said Tuesday it had gathered enough signatures to trigger an election to allow 190,000 workers to join its ranks in what is by some measures the largest union drive in the United States this century. Approximately 70,000 employees and counting at Public Partnerships LLC, which administers the program, have signed union authorization cards, the union said.

“These are essential workers doing work families cannot live without, yet they are struggling to put food on their own tables,” Yvonne Armstrong, the president of 1199SEIU, said in a statement. 

The workers are employed through the state’s Consumer-Directed Personal Assistance Program, known as CDPAP, which provides Medicaid dollars for health aides chosen by patients themselves, often family members or loved ones. 

Union Competition

In 2024, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a controversial overhaul of the program, severing contracts with more than 600 home care agencies and putting the entire operation in the hands of a single entity. The U.S. Department of Justice sued New York over the transition in June, alleging that Hochul improperly favored PPL over other vendors in a “sham” bid process, allegations that the governor’s office denies. 

1199SEIU supported the switchover, openly admitting that it would make it easier for them to bargain with one single employer instead of a patchwork of hundreds; prior to the switchover, 1199SEIU represented just 10,000 home health aides who were enrolled in the CDPAP program.

A recent investigation by New York Focus revealed that the union had worked behind the scenes to ensure PPL successfully took over the program over the objections of some caregivers and patients. The union and the company coordinated lobbying efforts and public messaging on the controversial deal, giving 1199SEIU a leg up over another union that was seeking to unionize PPL’s workforce, New York Focus reported.

That union, the Home Healthcare Workers of America — which has harbored its own share of controversies — would be cut out of PPL’s workforce entirely if 1199’s union drive is successful.

MORE: Follow The City Reporter’s Award-Winning Labor Coverage

During a gathering at Local 1199’s headquarters on 7th Avenue with dozens of home care personal assistants, organizing director Lystra Sawney described their efforts as “a scale of organizing that hasn’t been seen since General Motors,” an apparent reference to the historic 1940 vote where 130,000 auto workers voted to unionize.

A spokesperson for the National Labor Relations Board, which would oversee the PPL election, did not immediately respond to questions about whether it had received the petition or chosen an election date. Federal law allows the employer the opportunity to challenge the validity of the signatures as well as the size and scope of the bargaining unit. 

Meg Fitzgerald, a PPL spokesperson, said the company “respects the right of every personal assistant to decide for themselves whether union representation is right for them” and that it would abide by a neutrality agreement it signed with 1199SEIU.

Reforming a ‘Racket’?

Hochul moved to overhaul the CDPAP program in 2024 to rein in the state’s health costs. At the time, the nearly 30 year-old program was operated by some 600 fiscal intermediaries, including for-profit and non-profit entities, that provided payroll and administrative oversight. In a now-notorious interview with Bloomberg News that summer, Hochul called the program a “racket” and “one of the most abused programs in the State of New York.”

Health Department spokesperson Cadence Acquaviva said in a statement that the agency has “no official position” on 1199’s union push. “We will continue to deliver a program that provides quality care for patients,  workers, fair pay for workers, and the most effective use of taxpayer dollars,” she added. 

While other states have moved their own CDPAP programs under the management of one single entity, Hochul’s move faced immediate backlash from industry advocates, trade organizations and watchdog groups who criticized the speed of her overhaul — the existing staffing agencies had mere months to turn over their records to PPL — as well as the terms of the state’s agreement with PPL, a Georgia-based company.

Our nonprofit newsroom relies on donations from readers to sustain our local reporting and keep it free for all New Yorkers. Donate to THE CITY today.

The post Union Could Bag 190,000 New Home Care Workers in Medicaid-Funded Program appeared first on The City Reporter.