Unions End Dispute Related to California Home Health Workers
Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees on Monday agreed to end a long-running dispute by agreeing not to take each other's members, including home health workers in Riverside County, the New York Times reports.
In California, SEIU wanted to attract 8,000 home care workers in Riverside County who were represented by AFSCME. The leadership of the AFSCME local had been removed by the national union because of financial mismanagement and a $4 million debt.
The two unions, in a joint statement, said that they had signed a national two-year pact, which stipulated that "neither union will attempt to raid, decertify or otherwise interfere with existing representation rights." The unions also agreed to organize 25,000 home health aides who would be represented by a new union, the California United Homecare Workers (Greenhouse, New York Times, 9/20).