Chicago Mom Forced To Join Union In Order To Care For Chronically Ill Son

A Chicago mom is being forced to join a union in order to be caregiver for her chronically ill son. Pam Harris stayed at home for the past 25 so she could personally take care of her son Josh’s needs. for Josh, for the past 25 years. Josh Harris’ medical needs are quite expensive. The family has been fortunate to receive some aid from the Medicaid program administered via the Illinois state government. But the $2,130 per month quite quickly disappear if Pam does not join either the AFSCME or SEIU unions.

A significant portion of the Medicaid would then go into the pockets of Henry Bayer’s American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Council 31 organization – the largest union is Illinois. Bayer’s union executive director salary is reportedly $145,000 per year. His pay is garnered from union dues. In 2009, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn issued an executive order mandating unionization of all caregivers in Josh’s Medicaid program, regardless of whether or not it is the parent offering the assistance.

Pamela Harris alerted other parents giving at-home care to their chronically ill child about the mandatory union membership rule. When the time came to vote upon which union would represent the caregivers, their voices were heard, but made no difference to Illinois Democratic lawmakers in the legislative majority. A total of 220 votes were cast for AFSCME, 293 for the SEIU union, and a whopping 1,018 for “no union.”

Harris and her peers are now taking their fight to remain union-free all the way to the US Supreme Court. A final decision about union representation of home caregivers related to the patients are not expected until this summer at the earliest. A Chicago Tribune editorial piece heavily in favor or Pam Harris and other parents in her position, garnered a rather cold-hearted response from the AFSCME executive director. Bayer said that if the parents of chronically ill children did not want to pay union dues, then they should not be eligible for state aid.

Henry Bayer said:

“Caring for the disabled is a state responsibility. Her [Pam Harris] attitude of entitlement is one I thought the Tribune rejected.”

If Pam Harris wins the US Supreme Court case against mandatory union membership, it could reshape labor laws for government workers across the nation, according to a My Journal Courier report. Her attorney has asked the court to rule that such employees cannot be forced into “representation fees” or union dues. At least half of the states in the Republic already operate under such a premise. The First Amendment case could also have an immediate impact on folks in Pam’s situation in California, Connecticut, Maryland, and several other states, that utilize Medicaid funds for in-home caregivers.

During the past 10 years more than 20,000 Illinois in-home caregivers voted to join the SEIU in an attempt to get a wage increase. The National Right to Work Foundation sued both Governor Pat Quinn and the SEIU. The lawsuit accused the politician and the union of conspiring to “relabel” private caregivers as government employees in order to increase union membership and dues to such organizations. “This scheme is nothing more than pure political payback,” National Right to Work Foundation Director Patrick Semmens said. Unions were reportedly big donors to Governor Quinn’s campaign.

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