A legislative victory against the forced unionization of home-based health care providers in Michigan may be reversed due to the efforts of Republican legislators.
This year's budget calls for the end of funding to the Michigan Quality Community Care Council, which collects SEIU union dues of home-based health care providers. In 2005, the MQCCC was setup to be the "employer" of independent contractors that provide home health services. With an official employer and a vote-by-mail union election that few participated in, the contractors became unionized by SEIU and the MQCCC began skimming union dues from the government grants that paid the contractors.
This scheme should have been eliminated at the start of Michigan's fiscal year in October. But the council remains operational despite its lack budgetary approval, and union dues are still being siphoned from Medicaid subsidies.
State Senator Roger Kahn (R-Saginaw) fought for the MQCCC funding in this year's budget discussion and continued to ensure its existence this fall. According to emails obtained through FOIA, he then tried hiding funding by undesignating it and placing it in another department. He also tried taking fees from each health care provider to keep the MQCCC alive.
Read more at Michigan Capitol Confidential.
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