SEIU officials used security guards, voter suppression, and a misleading summary to force homecare workers to ratify a secret agreement with the County. Here’s why they had to fix the vote:

• Instead of raises, the contract provides for a $2/hour wage cut that is virtually guaranteed when federal stimulus money runs out next summer.
• The contract allows workers to be switched out of their current health plan with Kaiser Permanente into a different, undefined plan.
• The contract allows sharp increases in workers’ out-of-pocket payments for doctors visits, prescriptions, and other medical services. Under the previous contract, many of these costs were fixed.
• The County is no longer required to provide workers with protective supplies like gloves, masks, and disinfectant wipes.
• The County is no longer required to provide on-call relief services to care for seniors and people with disabilities when providers are called away by emergencies.
• There are no improvements at all in the contract, only takeaways. This is the first contract in California history that moves homecare workers backward, widening the gulf between long-term care and hospital workers.

How could SEIU get workers to vote for a contract like that?

Voter fraud in contract ratification

• SEIU refused to show workers the language of the contract. The details were only revealed after the vote was over, when the contract was made public by the Board of Supervisors. (Read the contract)
  
• SEIU changed voting rules to suppress the vote. Before, homecare workers voted at home, by mail. SEIU insisted workers vote in-person, and voting hours at each polling place were restricted to two hours during evening rush hour.
• SEIU hired security guards to keep suspected “No” voters from entering polling places. (Watch the video below for the whole story)
• The only information homecare workers were given about the contract were one-page leaflets and short robo-calls which falsely claimed the contract protected wages and contained “no takeaways.” (See the agreement summary and ratification leaflet. Listen to the robo-call.)

Click here for a leaflet to share this news with your co-workers.

Here’s what Sonoma County caregivers and County Supervisors have to say about it:

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