SEIU Local 503 members achieved two major victories for homecare and child care providers this week, in the final days of the state legislative session.

On Tuesday, the legislature passed the Homecare Equality Act, granting bargaining rights to home care providers who currently do not have them solely because of the homecare program their client is enrolled in. On Thursday, nearly $13 million in new funding extended Employment Related Day Care (ERDC) for another year, preserving care for 5,500 children and the jobs of 1,800 child care providers through June 30, 2011.

Homecare workers win collective bargaining rights

When the Governor signs the Homecare Equality Act, the workers it covers will come under the jurisdiction the Homecare Commission, giving them bargaining rights, workers' compensation coverage, access to training, and the ability to be listed on the homecare registry. It will take time to organize them and some may work very few hours a week, but in time many of these workers and their clients will benefit and so will our union.

Preserving jobs and care for kids

The ERDC funding impacts 2,900 low-wage working families who rely on state subsidies in order to be able to afford day care (and hence, be able to afford to go to work). It preserves the jobs of roughly 1,450 SEIU members and an estimated 350 other child care providers who were scheduled to be terminated June 30th of this year. "The response in Salem has been very gratifying," said Portia Moye, president of the SEIU 503 child care local. "We're not there yet, but the response in the Joint Ways & Means Committee is quite encouraging. We are also grateful that the Obama Administration seems ready to continue providing significant federal economic recovery funding for this program."

These victories came as a result of our victory on Measures 66 and 67, our success through CAPE in helping to elect pro-working family legislators to office, our lobbying in Salem and through phone calls and emails to legislators as well as efforts on the part of our great allies like AARP Oregon, Children First for Oregon, and the Human Services Coalition of Oregon.