In California, There’s Hope for IHSS Workers Facing Rampant Union Abuse

Each morning, long-time San Diego resident Olivia rises early to tend to the needs of her autistic son. “That’s really the only reason,” Olivia said, that she became an In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) provider through the California Department of Social Services.

As Olivia attended the IHSS provider orientation necessary to obtain state funding to meet her son’s medical needs, she didn’t expect a closed-door meeting with officers of the United Domestic Workers of America (UDW). If Olivia declined to sign up for union membership, the union representatives threatened, she would be unable to complete her timecard and lose payment as a result.

Though Olivia had a “gut feeling” to refuse, she signed a union membership card anyway, yielding to “peer pressure” and an optimistic belief that the UDW officers were acting in accordance with their promise to defend IHSS provider rights.

Olivia’s gut feeling was right.

After discovering that the union’s threats were fabricated to coerce IHSS workers into UDW membership, Olivia immediately dialed the union’s office to request cancellation of her enrollment.

The union declined and continued to deduct hundreds of dollars from Olivia’s paycheck anyway.

This was not an isolated incident.

In Lake Elsinore, IHSS provider and Romanian immigrant Claudiu was informed that the only way to receive employment benefits was to sign up for UDW membership. For years, union representatives ignored his requests to cancel membership, misleading Claudiu to believe that he must pay union dues for ten years before they would reconsider.

But UDW isn’t the only union pressuring IHSS provider into membership under false pretenses. Similar tactics utilized by the Service Employees International Union Local 2015 (SEIU 2015) suggest that union coercion isn’t a fluke, but a pattern of abuse throughout the state of California.

Tabish, a resident of Fresno County, became an IHSS provider to care for his mother awaiting spinal surgery and an organ transplant. In March 2023, Tabish received a text from SEIU 2015 with an obscure link. After tapping on the link, Tabish was automatically signed up for union membership without his consent.

As dues deductions began, Tabish’s attempt to cancel his membership was met with resistance from union officers, who insisted that the fees would continue for at least another year.

Likewise, IHSS provider Alberto from Los Angeles was coerced into SEIU 2015 membership after union officials informed him that he must join or risk loss of all health benefits provided by his employer. While his request to cancel membership led to a halt in dues deductions for nearly a year, the fees resumed in February 2021 without Alberto’s consent.

While the union admitted its mistake, officers refused to refund Alberto’s lost wages and deducted dues from his paycheck for another year.

But after falling victim to UDW and SEIU’s membership coercion schemes, Olivia, Claudiu, Tabish, and Alberto share another experience in common.

In search of refuge from union abuse, each IHSS provider contacted the Freedom Foundation, a government union watchdog who informs public employees about their rights when it comes to union membership, exposing widespread corruption in the process.

To this end, the Foundation’s in house legal counsel provides pro-bono services to public employees subjected to government union malfeasance.

On behalf of each IHSS provider, Freedom Foundation attorneys sent demand letters to UDW and SEIU 2015, urging the unions to halt non consensual dues deductions.

As a result, Olivia, Claudiu, Tabish, and Alberto’s dues deductions were immediately canceled. In addition, SEIU 2015 promised Tabish and Alberto refunds for the wages looted from their paychecks.

Union membership should carry the promise of protection in the workplace. Unfortunately for California’s IHSS workers, their union representatives have something else in mind.

Whether UDW and SEIU 2015’s misconduct is a result of ignorance, greed, or otherwise, it’s due time for IHSS providers to consider whether their union officers are capable of shouldering the responsibility of worker protection, before they themselves fall victim to union coercion that continues to escalate throughout the Golden State.

Some names have been changed for privacy purposes.