Our Local

SEIU Healthcare 775NW

SEIU Healthcare 775NW was formed in 2003 when home care and nursing home workers from several different SEIU locals united together to form a union focused specifically on long-term care workers and issues. SEIU Healthcare 775NW now represents almost 34,000 home care and nursing home workers in Washington state and Montana. SEIU Healthcare is the largest grassroots advocacy organization both nationally and here in the Northwest.

We’re named after Initiative 775, the Quality Home Care Initiative which voters overwhelmingly approved in 2001 and which gave 23,000 Individual Provider home care workers the right to form a union in the largest union election ever held in Washington state.

Since 2002, thousands of home care workers at private agencies like ResCare/Armstrong, Addus Healthcare, Chesterfield Healthcare, Catholic Community Services of Western Washignton, Korean Women’s Association, Amicable, Unique, AAA Residential Services and Home Care Services of Montana have united with SEIU Healthcare 775NW and gained new raises and improved benefits.

Since 2006, more than 1800 workers at 22 nursing homes across Washington state have joined with SEIU Healthcare 775NW, quadrupling the number of nursing home workers in our union, and winning raises of 6-14% each year. Nursing home workers are advocating for improving the quality of care through public policy and a voice in care delivery within union facilities.

Wages have improved by 40% throughout Washington home care as over the last five years, SEIU Healthcare 775NW has won more than $400 million in improved wages and benefits for Washington home care workers, including affordable health care including dental, prescription drug and vision coverage, paid vacations, and wage scales with guaranteed increases based on experience. Our grassroots advocacy efforts and union contracts have also increased the number of hours of care for both clients and hours of work for caregivers. In Montana, we are opening up options for more seniors and people with disabilities to live in their own homes with quality long term care, and we passed legislation "Healthcare for Healthcare Workers". We are now engaged in state and national efforts on workforce development, to recognize home and community-based care as an emerging healthcare profession.