Pennsylvania Supreme Court Upholds Governor’s Order Allowing Collective Bargaining For Home Health Care Workers

On August 21, 2018, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld a 2015 executive order issued by state governor Tom Wolf that allows collective bargaining by a union-like entity to represent the 20,000 home care workers providing personal care services to beneficiaries of Medicaid and similar state-funded programs. Home care recipients are the legal employers of their home care workers, with authority to hire, train, manage, pay, and fire their home care workers. The executive order offers the union authority to meet with the state Department of Human Services (DHS) to set terms and conditions of employment for all . . .