Slight of Hand and Neutrality Agreements

Take a look at the "Win, win, win?" chart published as part of the recent Addus Healthcare's neutrality agreement with the SEIU. First-- note that the heading has a "?" and it's a good thing, too, as the union's spin on neutrality agreements should make us question everything. Check out the "slight of hand" as the headline reads that everyone wins---the Workers win, the Company wins and the Union wins.

Let's take a closer look...

It's says that Addus will "lower turnover rates, lower recruitment and training costs" and that the "SEIU's powerful political lobby can help as Addus works to get states to raise Medicaid reimbursement rates".

How exactly will the SEIU lower turnover rates? Why is the turnover rate at Addus high in the first place when you have such a fine union organization involved with 75% of the Addus employees (that many have already been unionized by the SEIU from previous neutrality agreements)? Isn't everyone happy?

It says that the workers have "no guarantees... of wage and benefit increases" and "no retribution from management." Is it just me? Since when is "no guarantees" a good thing? Did you really have a lot of "retribution" from management going on? Although, according to Merriam-Webster, "retribution" means "the dispensing or receiving of reward or punishment." Congratulations, you just eliminated both...

The biggest WIN-WIN-WIN is really for the SEIU: " as many as 2,000-3,000 new members" and "no hassle of dealing with uncooperative or threatening management." I wonder how much money in dues the SEIU is taking from the employees (See article headline: "Company eases way for unionization of low-paid home health care workers")? They say the home care worker makes $9.82 on average. That's about $20 per month, $240 per year and $720,000 in dues per year for the SEIU. And why should those pesky people that run the company and manage the employees get in the way of a union going after money?

By the way, the article says that $9.62 is a "third less than pharmacy aides make", about "half of what massage therapists make" and about a "third of what occupational therapy assistants make" per hour--even though home care aids do many of those same tasks. Really? Guess what: some of these positions may require higher education, different training and... GET ANOTHER JOB IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE ONE YOU HAVE... but I digress...

So let's review-- the Company gets a lobbyist that already existed, the Workers get "no guarantees in wage and benefit increases" and the SEIU gets $720,000 per year.

Don't believe the Neutrality Agreement slight of hand, it's a lose, lose, win.

PS- Employees: don't sign the card, don't give 2 hours of pay per month to a union that cannot guarantee you anything.

PPS--Where's the CNA when you need them to stop the SEIU?