Our union in Oregon and nationally unites working people to fight for issues that matter to our families. Working people united in SEIU demand that 2022 candidates unabashedly champion economic and racial justice and commit to throwing open the doors for every person in this country to have the opportunity to join a union, no matter where they work.
When workers are able to join together in a union, everyone benefits. Full-time women workers in unions earn 30% more than their non-union counterparts, and Black union workers are 13% more likely to have health care than non-union workers. These benefits support workers and their families to be more financially stable, and access to improved training and benefits also contributes to better outcomes at work.
SEIU members share a vision of an America where all working people can join together in unions and earn a living wage; where quality health care is accessible and affordable for all and everyone has a secure retirement; where immigrant families are able to stay together; where all communities have access to quality public services; where we work to dismantle structural racism and achieve equality for all people regardless of gender or sexual orientation; where every vote counts; where we all have clean air to breathe and clean water to drink; and where our economy and democracy work for all of us, not just millionaires and billionaires.
The Union Difference
When voters approved Ballot Measure 99 in 2000, tens of thousands of Oregon homecare workers had their right to belong to a union recognized in our State Constitution, and the Oregon Home Care Commission was established. In the two decades since, the people who care for Oregon’s seniors and people with disabilities and major illnesses now have workers’ compensation coverage, a tax withholding, health care, $16 an hour starting pay, retirement through OregonSaves, and holiday pay. Homecare workers also receive training and professional development to better serve their clients and advance their careers. Unfortunately, the Home Care Commission only has oversight over Medicaid and Medicare clients so people receiving care through private providers and the people who care for them are in a separate system not unlike federally-funded homecare workers prior to unionization.