Origins & Early Organizing

United Home Care Workers of Pennsylvania is a labor organization built to give voice and power to caregivers who provide in-home support for seniors and people with disabilities — an essential yet historically undervalued workforce. The union is a project of SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania and is backed by the larger labor movement’s ties to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME).

Homecare work in Pennsylvania — as in much of the United States — has traditionally been low-paid, fragmented, and without formal workplace protections or bargaining rights. This made traditional union organizing challenging, because many workers were classified as independent providers or “domestic” workers, categories excluded from collective bargaining rights under Pennsylvania law.

Historic Moments

Early Recognition and Setbacks

• In 2011, home care workers organized and won voluntary recognition from the Consumer Workforce Council (CWC) — a major early victory signaling that workers could build collective power and negotiate a contract.

• However, this early win was reversed when then-Governor Tom Corbett outsourced fiscal management of consumer-directed home care, effectively dissolving the CWC and voiding the contract. Workers had to restart their organizing efforts from scratch.

Rebuilding & First Contract

• After rebuilding, home care workers, allied consumers, and the UHWP partnered with the reconfigured CWC to negotiate a new contract, ultimately ratified in 2013, covering roughly 1,600 caregivers statewide — a major milestone.

Legal Challenges & Coalition Building

• In the mid-2010s, a legal battle erupted over union representation. Governor Tom Wolf issued an executive order creating a home care worker advisory board and enabling unions to receive worker lists and assist organizing.

• Anti-union groups challenged this move, but in 2018 the Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld the order, rejecting arguments that it improperly interfered in the worker-receiver relationship. This ruling validated labor’s role in organizing a traditionally excluded workforce.

Recent Policy Wins

• In 2025, the union led a statewide campaign that resulted in the Pennsylvania state budget including a historic $21 million investment to raise homecare wages to at least $15/hour, fund paid time off, and strengthen the participant-directed care system — a huge policy achievement demonstrating the power of organized caregivers and their allies.