The Association for Better Healthcare, an organization that represents licensed home care agencies in New York has lashed out against a “political deal” between New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo and SEIU 1199. The governor, a longtime comrade of 1199, is ramming through “living wage” legislation for home care workers. The provision would require agencies in the city and three adjacent counties to pay their aides a yet to be determined “living wage” that is expected to drive all but the largest agencies out of business. The provision will immediately pay off for SEIU as home care workers’ dues are calculated as a percentage of pay. SEIU will also gain big in the long haul as the Association predicts thousands of jobs will eventually shift to a few large agencies and those already unionized. That consolidation would make wall-to-wall organizing far easier than it is with the existing patchwork of hundreds of smaller employers. Even though a “living wage” could cost the cash strapped state an additional $400 million in Medicaid costs the last minute deal was needed to broker the support of 1199 for the rest of Cuomo’s austerity budget. Dennis Rivera, former president of 1199 and now International “advisor,” co-chaired Cuomo’s Medicaid Redesign Team that proposed the massive wage hike. 1199 is considered to be perhaps the single most powerful force in New York Democrat politics with its annual political donations of close to a million dollars dwarfed by the value of the massive local’s call center and legendary ability to put GOTV boots on the ground. Cornered by a bold and brilliant political move some are comparing to three level chess, and with drastic budget cuts on the table along with Cuomo’s political destiny, NY Democrats just don’t know how to say no to 1199.
