Oregon Home-Care Unions Reaction To High Court’s Decision

SALEM, OR — Home-care workers in Oregon have been carefully watching a U.S. Supreme Court case decided last week.  The justices ruled 5-to-4 that home health aides working for state Medicaid clients in Illinois don’t have to pay a fee to the state employees’ union that represents them if they don’t want to be union members.  Some claims the case (Harris vs. Quinn) is part of a larger attempt to weaken labor unions.  Rebecca Sandoval, who heads the home-care division of Oregon’s SEIU Local 503, said she sees it instead as an opportunity.

“We’re going to use this as a challenge to prove how valuable our union is – not just to home-care workers, but to our clients and then even further, to the state and the taxpayers of Oregon. I mean, that’s exactly what this does for me is, it’s kind of a defining moment.”

The High Court said as private contractors, the home health-care workers in the case shouldn’t be required to pay union fees or join the union.  Sandoval said it isn’t clear yet how the case would affect Oregon’s 20,000 state-paid home-care workers, who also are contractors.

If you see local news happen, call the Horizon Broadcasting Group News Tip Hotline at 541-323-NEWS, or email us.

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Beaver Walk & Beaver Believers Screening

Beaver Natural History Walk & Restoration Site Tour, 4-5 pm Followed by a screening of The Beaver Believers and Q &A Hosted by Maureen Thompson, Beaver Works Program Manager and Kolleen Miller, Education Director for The Upper

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8th Annual Locavore Gala & Fundraiser

We invite you to be a part of something extraordinary – an evening that transcends the ordinary and celebrates the heart of our community. Central Oregon Locavore proudly presents its 8th Annual Gala and Fundraiser, a special