1199SEIU files to unionize 190,000 home care workers in New York’s CDPAP
The health care union says enough workers have signed to force a vote at PPL, the one company that now runs the state's $11 billion home care program.
The health care union 1199SEIU filed a petition on Tuesday to represent roughly 190,000 home care workers across New York State. By some measures, no union campaign in the country has been bigger this century.
According to the union, about 70,000 workers at Public Partnerships LLC, the company that administers the state’s Consumer-Directed Personal Assistance Program, have signed authorization cards so far. That is enough to trigger an election. “These are essential workers doing work families cannot live without,” union president Yvonne Armstrong said in a statement.
What CDPAP is and why a single employer matters
CDPAP is an $11 billion state-funded program. Medicaid money pays for health aides whom patients pick themselves, often relatives or loved ones. Gov. Kathy Hochul’s 2024 overhaul ended the state’s arrangements with over 600 agencies that handled home care, and one company, PPL, took over the whole program.
1199SEIU supported the switch and has said openly that bargaining with one employer is simpler than dealing with hundreds. Before the change, the union represented just 10,000 of the program’s aides. If the drive succeeds, a rival union, the Home Healthcare Workers of America, would be left with no foothold in PPL’s workforce.
The overhaul is still contested. In June, the U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit against the state, alleging that Hochul improperly favored PPL through a “sham” bidding process. The governor’s office denies the allegations.
What happens next in the home care union vote
The National Labor Relations Board would oversee the election. A board spokesperson did not immediately say whether the petition had arrived or whether a vote date had been set. Federal law allows PPL to contest whether the signatures are valid and to dispute how large the proposed unit is and which workers it covers.
PPL spokesperson Meg Fitzgerald said the company respects each personal assistant’s right to decide whether union representation is right for them.
At the union’s Seventh Avenue headquarters, organizing director Lystra Sawney spoke to dozens of personal assistants. She compared the size of the campaign to General Motors. That appeared to refer to the 1940 vote in which 130,000 autoworkers chose to join a union.
Quick answers
What is CDPAP?
The Consumer-Directed Personal Assistance Program is an $11 billion state-funded program. Medicaid money pays for health aides whom patients pick themselves, often relatives or loved ones.
Who would run the CDPAP union election?
The National Labor Relations Board. Under federal law, PPL can contest the signatures and dispute how large the proposed unit is and which workers it covers.
How many CDPAP workers have signed union cards?
The union says about 70,000 PPL workers have signed authorization cards. It is seeking to represent about 190,000.
