“I don’t want the union in my home:” Look who the SEIU is after now
There’s nowhere the SEIU Purple Shirts won’t go.
Their latest move? Trying to unionize in-home caregivers.
The Chicago Tribune reports:
Kathy Keith has cared for a son with Down syndrome for 23 years and never dreamed that one day organized labor would consider her a prime candidate for a union card.
So she was skeptical when representatives from two of the nation’s largest unions began competing for her attention over the last few weeks with unannounced visits to her home, mailings and phone messages promising to fatten her state stipend.
The Bartlett resident is among about 3,000 people who receive state funding to assist someone at home with a developmental disability. As a result of an executive order signed by Gov. Pat Quinn in June that allows collective bargaining by “individual providers of home-based support services,” unions are now trying to sign them up in an unusual effort to boost membership.
The move has left some care providers angry and confused. Many are mothers, fathers or close relatives who are caring for loved ones, advocates say.
“Are you saying I can go on strike and not wipe my son’s rear end?” Keith said, questioning if union membership would pit her interests against her son’s.
Soon, she and others expect to receive ballots by mail that ask them to join the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) or the Service Employees International Union(SEIU). Or they may vote against representation.
An election date has not been scheduled, but union officials say they have met the requirement for a minimum level of interest and are awaiting state approval.
Caregivers who vote against joining a union or don’t vote at all would get to choose whether to become members if SEIU or AFSCME receives the most votes, but even if they decline to join, they will have to pay “fair share” dues, according to union representatives.
I’m very encouraged to see this pushback:
Pam Harris of Western Springs said she will vote against joining a union and is angry over what she calls “strong-arm tactics.” She worries about what will happen if she is forced to join a union as a caregiver for her son, Josh, 20, who has a rare genetic syndrome that causes cognitive and physical disabilities.
“I need that money for my son,” said Harris, who spends $1,400 a month on medical insurance for her son.
Organizers showed up at her doorstep on a recent Sunday morning, she said.
“I am not an employee of the state,” Harris said. “I work from my home. I don’t want the union in my home. I can Norma Rae with the rest of them.”
Illinois reader Adam, who cares for a son with autism, e-mails with the Chicago Way background: “A week or so ago Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn announced the closure of Howe, a huge State Operated Development Center (SODC) in Tinley Park, IL. Dozens of disabled people have died over the past few years because of horrendous care, and it lost its Medicaid certification (and the associated Federal funds). It was a huge cash drain on the state, and the closure is one of the few smart decisions Gov. Quinn has made. The Arc of Illinois (and most other state Arcs) advocates for the closure of these huge impersonal institutions, and instead our desire is for people to move into smaller group homes (4-6 people each) in the community. The closure of Howe was strongly opposed by SEIU because they have organized a large portion of the workers at Howe and other SODCs in the state. To appease SEIU over the closure of Howe, Gov. Quinn signed an executive order that allows SEIU to approach and attempt to organize people who live in their own homes and take care of family members. If they vote no, but the union drive is successful, these family members will be forced to pay the union dues anyway, taking away from the funds they desperately need to help pay for their loved ones’ care. Though I’m not to this point yet with my son, the thought of SEIU thugs coming to my home unannounced in an effort to convince me to join the union is creepy and disgraceful.”
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Categories: SEIU
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If she refused and became a scab when they go on strike, would they picket in front of her house and damage her vehicle? Who would be the management they would be organized against, the state or the poor person requiring the caregiver? They didn’t think this one all the way through. Oh, and I’d answer the door in a loin cloth holding a double barreled shotgun…. but that’s just me.
These people give trial lawyers a good name.
Leopard pattern I presume.
I’ve never understood how the laws allow this extortion to occur.
BS!!!
It’s Illinois, Even now-deceased care-givers have a right to vote.
They are actually pretend to count ballots? How quaint.
I would feel my life was in imminent danger and exercize my 2nd Amendment rights when those thugs arrive.
Is there any other kind?
Time to move out of Illinois.
Now these people know why states’ rights are important.
My wife stays home and cares for our autistic son.
If a SEIU union purple shirt came and tried to intimidate her, well, Oklahoma has a “Stand Your Ground” law. And I own a shotgun.
So the government makes you pay vig to the union whether you join or not. And people wonder why some of us don’t trust the government to look out for our interests.
Hey, that’s my Modus Operandi…unwanted visitors or not…
Will they try to unionize my wife next? She works pretty hard at home all day long? Will she have to call a union rep every before she cooks dinner or does a load of laundry? Will they demand I pay her dues since she doesn’t draw a salary?
I think these leftist morons are finally getting close to the tipping point. If they keep it up they will finally get the attention of folks who just want to get on with our lives and be left alone by the government and unions which are increasingly the same thing.
I thought the Dems/Leftards claimed they wanted to get government “out of the bedroom?” That claim kind of rings hallow at this point…
It’s really pretty simple. When the state decided it had the right to redistribute wealth, it gained the right to redistribute wealth.
At the core, most basic ethical level, using democratic force to take your money and subsequently giving it to the caregiver is exactly the same as taking the caregiver’s money and giving it to the unions.
The difference is that she is also a propaganda tool. The government uses her child as the emotional appeal – the reason that they need to take your money, and we, in good conscience, can’t deny that might not be such a bad thing.
But once they took the power to do that, the results were inevitable. It is simple human nature. They’ll take caregiver money and give it to the unions, and the unions will help it flow into the reelection coffers.
Socialism puts the rights of the workers at the top of their platform, above everybody else. If you can’t work, then get out of their way.
(And give them your money.)
How much courage does is it take to re-register as an unaffiliated independent and then vote for a 3rd party candidate? If enough people do that, we will throw the entire electoral process for a loop.
I know, there is no point trying anything different. It’s Democrat or Whig or stay home.
UN EFFING BELIEVABLE
You gotta be playing Ted Nugent’s Great White Buffalo really loud too… kinda freaks ‘em out!
This is theft. Plain and simple.
how did they get the names and addresses of private citizens taking care of their own family in their own houses?
my husband just got a visit at work yeterday by a union organizer making not so subtle implications.
I thought the Bush admin was the ones violating our privacy? Remember, they are liberals and they have your best interests at heart… or else!
The Nuge rocks…
The only distinction I can see between this and a Mafia shakedown is the lack of great pasta and the gumba parlance.
Phil I feel your pain. I often vote third party because I can’t, in good conscience, vote for either of the two, interchangeable smarmy products of the two big parties.
But the political reality is that, during our apethetic years, they colluded and passed laws and prorpagandize messages that essentially serve to shut out third party candidates.
The key to change is in the party. Sign up at the local GOP and start attending meetings. The ony way to take back our party is to literally take back our party.
Waving signs at tea parties is fun, but very few people will sign up to do the real work that gets people elected. Step up if you want to make a difference.
But be realistic and prepared, because they won’t give it back without a fight.
Nope. And if there are no real man would wear them.
Here within lies the problem. If you voted for a complete change in the Federal government, That will not fix the problems that have risen in the state and local government.
By what ever means it takes to gain control of the government,it must be where the constitution can have the loop holes fixed once and forever.
I wonder who gets to count the votes?
It’s SEIU 6434 here in California.
Malkin Story
Marco Polo: we nearing the tipping point on democracy right now and we haven’t been there since the Civil War. We are either going to dislodge the entrenched criminal class of elected weasels this time or all hell is going to break loose. I really believe that the elites in this country have so lost touch with ordinary Americans that they forget that we are still willing to fight and die for our freedoms.
If our “leaders” think things are painful now, wait until they see what happens when our standard of living is cut in half and we have to report to a neighborhood Marxist commissar before we do anything.
I just don’t think that these guys could retain power were the combined registrations of both parties to sink below 50%. We are getting close already: 54-55%. Fewer than 19% of the population supports what is going on right now. Third party is there for the taking.
And for those who want to throw Perot at me, Perot could have WON in 1992. When he temporarily dropped out of the race, he was ahead in the polls. He still got 20%. And we were nowhere near as p.o’ed in 1992 as we are today.
Apparently, voters had more courage and imagination back then.
Some say liberals promote class warfare, but unions have done so much to remove class barriers, to lessen economic gaps between workers and managers.
Most in home care providers work for big companies. It’s natural for them to try to form a union.
They will get it from the state’s records. The state has access to the list of all those who receive Medicaid, or other program monies. Simply threaten with a letter from them, and then all will comply.
I just got a letter yeterday from the government (we are caretakers for our grandchildren and receive Medicaid for their benefit). It is suspiciously vague in what the insurance will still be covering/won’t be covering, and who will be processing it. I put it aside to research this weekend, but don’t have it here at work. Scary, though.
fify
This is just wrong on so many levels.
Bull. One of the talking points of the left is the increase in the difference between ceo pay and the workers pay.
Unions are now simply another special intrest out for thier own enrichment. They don’t care about the workers anymore.
In my rural region of the state, in-home caregivers either work for government agencies or small, privately owned entities. (I know this because my mom is a retired social worker and my first “real job” was for a federally funded community action agency.)
The unionization of these workers would be as impossible as it would be implausible. The majority of them already earn upwards of ten dollars an hour and many are happy with the work they do!
LGM: So you are cool with non-union workers being FORCED to pay union dues against thier will for nothing in return???
The mafia used to call that protection money. Now they call in union dues.
Sonofdy-
I call stealing with the explicit approval of an elected official.
GSP
Will they be paid by the number of DNR’s they get signed?
Imagine one of these union workers whispering in Grandma’s ear “Give it up Granny, your life isn’t worth living” day after day after day.
Or they would just start chewing the fingers off the old folks.
I would advise all home care-givers who’ve not yet been contacted by SEIU to put Caller ID on their phones and put peepholes in their doors. Do NOT open unless you know they are NOT from the SEIU.
Look, this is pretty simple stuff here.
There are three words that should absolutely raise red flags when mentioned together;
Service (You know…that little thing that Obama, et al have been pushing for our youth(
International (NOT national…why is that? Think funding!)
and, UNION.
Knowing what we know about the corruption, money grubbing, thuggery, politican connections with Democrat Party officials throughtout history…There is no doubt in my mind what is going on, and there should be no doubt in yours, either!
There are simply no coincidents in the Obama Administration.
That little ACORN has set it’s roots, and is growing into a mighty oak.
I think it’s time to apply some ROUNDUP…before those roots start cracking the foundation of our society, the Constitution, and the rapidly following elimination of our Rights!
Even more scary, how do these union thugs know who is an in-home caregiver? Is the state giving them this information? It seems likely. So why is that acceptable?
Happy to see that you so readily associate unions with liberalism. However, the original intent of unions has long since evaporated with union management becoming the new form of power. Will there be unions to fight the unions now?
Hmmm… What form of economic principle does this statement most resemble?
Do you have evidence for this claim? It’s really immaterial to the story, but I’m curious if this is just another of your guesses.
Is it natural for them to persistently go after a mother caring for her son? Are you really here defending that?
The heck with that….
Open the door, face those a$$holes and tell them to go $crew themselves and don’t come back on your private property again.
You can’t face down hustlers by hiding.
Ow! Son of a … that’s gonna leave a mark.
It has already happened in WA State. The unions took over all the State government jobs as part of a contract negotiation. After the take over people either had to join the union and pay the dues, pay a partial due or they were fired. I believe there is still lawsuits ongoing over the terminations as WA State is a right to work state.
I would think that there is a clear conflict of interest in this case and all other relatives who care for their sick family. Technically she is more management than worker, and I didn’t realize that executives and managers could belong to a union. At least I was not aware of this sort of arrangement.
vinny, think aba and ama. we still pay dues, we just don’t have any strike payroll. who would you strike against? who would these yahoos picket? another socialist money grab.
invest in one of those doorbells that has a video camera in it that way if you don’t recognize who is at the door you simply just don’t answer the door….you can also talk through the cam and tell them you are calling the police if they don’t immediately leave your property as you feel threatened…unfortunately in some states they have to actually be in your home to kill them….
These unions have zero interest in the care of the people that need it. They only want their roles bloated.
Tell them to go to hell. They’re scum.
It sounds like the state is just going to deduct money from the stipend these caregivers receive and fork it over to the union. I can only imagine the response from the people who don’t want this.
***
Some posters above think that a CONSERVATIVE THIRD PARTY has a chance to win an election.
***
I don’t think so–even ex President Theodore Roosevelt couldn’t pull this off with his BULLMOOSE PARTY. Ross Perot’s getting into the 1992 election just split the Republican / conservative vote and gave the victory to Bill Clinton.
***
President Lincoln didn’t start a third party–he and the abolitionists took over the existing Whig party and converted it into the Republican party. The Democratic party was the one supporting slavery and the South.
***
Attend the tea parties and marches. Vote out the losers in 2010 and 2012.
***
John Bibb
***
Extortion is a crime. My shotgun is my defense.
Then you would support legislation that says all union management had to have their compensation capped at the average wage of their members?
If this is true then organized labor shouldn’t have any problems supporting a law requiring union management pay to be capped at 7x the average annual salary of the workers they claim to represent. After all, their goal is the betterment of the workers and NOT the garnishment of their wallets! Right? /sarc
SEIU must be desperate for members and funds.
If their purpose is as noble as they are portraying it, then 1x is sufficient.
Tiger stripes!!
An interesting issue is that some who would like union representation are not being offered it. Many office employees of large private companies would love ald for a union to protect their jobs/pay/rights but the unions aren’t interested. This is probably because these workers would not go for the “sheeple” parts of union representation. Perhaps the white-collar workers should form their own unions, not married to the Democrats
Some years back the local UFCW leader was put in jail for embezzlement. I don’t think he shared any of that wealth with anyone else. Maybe his lawyer after he was caught.
The word “class” used in this context implies a set station in life to which members are expected to remain. This concept exists in pagan societies where the individual’s worth is diluted and beneath the worth of the collective.
Our Judeo-Christian based economy recognizes the inherent worth and dignity of the individual – the spark of God that created that person. There are no class-limiting barriers to achievement in our country. If a person has vision, a strong work ethic, perseverance, and similar virtues, there is no limit to what can bee achieved. Unions promote lazy unmotivated workers who rely on others to take care of them. Unions destroy companies and wealth making potential. Unions subvert the natural laws of economics in which hard work and self improvement are irrelevant. The more our country’s businesses are unionized the less successful we will be.
LGM – you need to do your homework. SEIU is heavily embroiled in corruption scandals and lawsuits right now stemming from their own members. Your liberal crap about what unions have done is BS. The majority of unions are corrupt and have turned into bullying organizations collecting protection money. Gad, get your facts together, you putz!
He….doesn’t….care! He’s a union member, and a card carrying socialist. What he can’t force you to do, the unions will. They can’t force you to believe, but by force, they will force you to comply…
They’re like the reality version of The Borg…resistance is Fu-tile!
Yes, Right_On – LGM doesn’t care. The lie about dems always being for the underdog and how much they care about “helping people” is hypocritically propogated by unions. I have ZERO respect for unions and their so-called help for working people. Ugh—the Borg – please let me be like 5 (remember her?) and survive this administration!!
My god, can it get any worse.
And lgm, I try not to call out people personally but I must make an exception for you. You are truly an idiot.
Duh – that’s pretty much what class warfare is. Unions use force and thuggery to take what they want.
You can’t brush away the laws of economics, and Detroit proves that better than the novel I could ever write on the subject.
I was in SEIU (not by choice) for two years. They did nothing for me but take dues.
I believe that “creepy and disgraceful” is on the SEIU union label.
“Strong arm tactics”? From the SEIU? What a surprise…..
And how nice for those who don’t want anything to do with the thug SEIU organization that they would “get” to pay dues anyway, if unionization happens. How nice. (not)
…and that’s just it, Dimsdale. It’s really only about getting those dues from people. SEIU doesn’t care about those it supposedly serves. They just want the dues.
lgm said:
What have unions really done for workers the past, oh, say 50 years? They haven’t removed class barriers, or lessened economic gaps between workers and managers. If anything, unions have poisoned the relationship between workers and management. If there is no trust in that relationship, nothing productive will come of it.
It’s also natural for unions to ask for ridiculous benefits and pay when it’s not warranted. What’s to prevent a big company from laying off these unionized workers when unionization has cut into their competitiveness and customer care structure? Companies have to survive and they cannot when unions dictate what benefits they can provide and how much they pay.
What happens when unions stop representing their workers, lgm? That’s what happened to my father, a steamfitter/plumber for most of his life, when he got an injury on the job. It was no longer in his union’s interest to represent him, even though he had paid them union dues his entire life.
Unions are historical anachronisms that no longer function in a society and world that has long passed them by. They do not benefit the companies unionized and they definitely aren’t in the workers’ corner.
You need to update your outlook, lgm.
Hey, I’d pay dues to anyone who wants help me get paid me to do the housework and laundry.
Just kidding, laundry is my life.
Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino: “Get Off My Lawn!”
Bite your tongue, happy!!! Aren’t kids around mainly to do household chores like laundry? I mean, my mother kept telling me that when I was growing up. There was a time when the entire family (farming families anyway) helped out. I guess that’s why science has invented the rhoomba (robotic, battery operated, disk-shaped vaccum cleaner) so chores will be a thing of the 19th century.
Personally, I hate doing laundry. However, I’d gladly do the laundry if my husband would just recycle the plastic bags he often puts in the trash.
emjem24 said:
Better pay, working conditions, benefits, job security. That’s all.
Not completely.
Wrong. When more money goes to workers, less goes to the bosses.
The managers’ point of view, to be sure.
tiredofit08: Just invite them in, then it will be your word against theirs, and they won’t do much talking after they succumb to lead poisoning (the 9mm or .45 strains are quite lethal)!
lgm: FIFY
All of this was accomplished during the first half of the 20th century.
Unions prevent innovation and promotions. If there is no competition and nothing that encourages workers to perform, meet goals, and do better, then their lives will not improve.
Try again. More money goes to the union bosses than will ever go to the union workers. Workers are underserved and union bosses are given perpetual positions of power from which they can never be removed.
No, this is my father, the union worker’s, position (from which I learned). He had to work harder because his other unionized co-workers, were lazy and didn’t do their jobs. Why do your job, or perform, when doing a mediocre, half-a$$ed job ensures that you’ll never be fired.
My father’s supervisor often commented that he wished he could duplicate workers like my father. The supervisor (one of those evil managers) was often frustrated that the union often got in the way of what needed to be done. Instead of safety being promoted, workers in my father’s union often sacrificed it because they weren’t invested in being hard-working, conscientious workers.
The other thing that has become the hallmark of unions is that they do not do what they can for injured union workers in the process of filing worker’s comp claims. They often cut their losses with those workers and move on. That was the experience of my father and I’m sure the experience of many other union workers.
Unions were useful in their time. Now, they, like the dinosaurs, need to go extinct. Because if they don’t, industry and the economy will flounder to the peril of all Americans, even deluded ones like yourself.
MM,why can’t I log out? I mean, what is going on with the blog today? First, the weird new post numbering system, and then not being able to log out. What gives?
Who ever said you needed a fresh new update for this website isn’t really serving the commenters or MM. Too bad.
I can see the headlines.
SIEU moves to unionize Grandparents! Granny tells snot-nosed brats to get stuffed! Film at 11.
Seems to me if the state provided the names and addresses of every person providing at home care for a family member, they would be in violation of every privacy law on the books – or yet to be.
Lawyer up, folks.
Laws don’t apply to them…
Things have gotten worse than I ever imagined! May God help us all.
Yeah, and the Republican Party freed the slaves. Does that mean you’re now going to become a Republican?
Someone said: “How much courage does is it take to re-register as an unaffiliated independent and then vote for a 3rd party candidate? If enough people do that, we will throw the entire electoral process for a loop.”
That would be great, but the reality right now is all that would do is keep Democrats in power, which I am assumming you don’t want. Studies have been done that show that independents voting for a third party will hurt Repubics more than Demoncats. Someday though!@!1
In Iowa the in-home providers have been having meetings with a union for over a year. My neighbor is paid by the state to take care of special needs kids and I know for certain there is a move in Iowa to organize them and make them de facto state employees and negotiate for higher pay and state employee benefits. With the group in charge in Des Moines it is possible they will get this accomplished before Gov. Culver (the Big Lug) leaves office due to getting beat in the next election.
I didn’t have time to read all the comments so I apologize if this has been mentioned.
The lot of them are no more than Thugs and Thiefs
I keep trying to find a good reason for Unions to exist today, but can’t find any.
Remember the SEIU turd that got caught lifting wallets at the Iowa state capitol building, here’s an update:
http://gazetteonline.com/local-news/public-safety/2009/09/04/charges-dismissed-against-former-school-custodian-accused-of-theft-at-capitol
How exactly will the SIEU/State of Illinois insist on people who are not members of this union, paying “dues” for services not rendered and benefits not received? How are they going to take the money away? Will people be sent to collections for not paying? Or will the state withhold the money from the medicare or whatever payments this woman receives, with which she cares for her son? Will the state then provide this money to the union?
BINGO!