Four Things to Know From Our Investigation of the Home Healthcare Workers of America, New York’s Fastest-Growing Union
HHWA is Circumventing Union Elections to Fuel Its Massive Growth — and Members Say They Are None the Wiser
HHWA organizes hundreds and even thousands of workers at a time by coming to voluntary agreements with a home care company’s management. Gathering support to join a union is a special challenge in the home care industry, where workers are siloed to patients’ homes and rarely have the opportunity to meet colleagues. Because employers typically want to keep unions out of their workplace, the vast majority of union petitions are not accepted by management and end up going through elections overseen by the U.S. labor board.
But a source familiar with HHWA’s organizing claims that it has gotten management of about three dozen companies to agree to accept the union without forcing an election. Meanwhile, workers interviewed by THE CITY had no idea they were in a union. One said she was never asked to sign a union card during the period her home care agency voluntarily recognized the union.
The Family That Controls HHWA and Its Sister Unions Get Paid Enormous Salaries
The family that controls the HHWA, its parent union, and its network of affiliates have amassed substantial compensation packages off of the dues paid by some of the lowest-paid workers in the city. Founding president Steven Elliott Sr., who died in 2023 after decades building the HHWA and its parent union, made $1.4 million in 2022. His daughter and son-in-law each earned about $500,000 in 2023.
Unions and the Broader Labor Movement View Them as a Hostile Force
The Elliott family, the IUJAT, and its family of unions are notorious within the labor movement for cutting in on other unions’ organizing drives and signing workers on to management-friendly contracts. For example, at a Bronx trash hauling depot, management dissolved a Teamsters local and replaced it with an IUJAT local led by former mobsters, and workers saw their strict wage and benefit requirements vanish.
The Union Has Direct Ties to Anti-Regulation Lobby Efforts
HHWA operates in close partnership with company management through the Home Healthcare Employers Association, a trade group founded by an attorney at Littler Mendelson, a firm that helps companies repel traditional labor union organizing drives. Two years after the group’s inception, the employers’ association and HHWA simultaneously signed agreements with the same top lobbying firm. Their goal? To lean on the administration of then-governor Andrew Cuomo and the state legislature as Albany readied to expand regulation and oversight of the industry.
Conclusion
Our investigation reveals that HHWA’s rapid growth is not as transparent as it seems. While the union may claim to represent the interests of its members, its practices and ties to management suggest that it is more interested in serving the interests of the companies it represents. This raises serious questions about the union’s true purpose and its impact on the workers it claims to represent.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the Home Healthcare Workers of America (HHWA)?
The HHWA is a labor union that represents home healthcare workers in New York City. - How did the HHWA grow so quickly?
The HHWA grew rapidly through voluntary agreements with home care companies, bypassing union elections and organizing thousands of workers at once. - What are the HHWA’s ties to the labor movement?
The HHWA is an affiliate of the International Union of Journeymen and Allied Trades (IUJAT), which has a history of cutting deals with management and signing workers on to management-friendly contracts. - What is the Home Healthcare Employers Association (HHEA)?
The HHEA is a trade group founded by an attorney at Littler Mendelson, a firm that helps companies repel traditional labor union organizing drives. The HHEA and HHWA have a close partnership, working together to block regulation and oversight of the industry.
