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WPAS Opposes Initiative 775
September 10, 2001
Table of Contents:
WPAS Opposes Initiative 775
This November, an initiative will be on the ballot that will affect people who use Personal Assistance Services (PAS) across the state. WPAS is extremely concerned that the initiative, I-775, will diminish the rights of PAS users.
I-775 was written primarily by organized labor to allow individual providers of PAS to join a union. If I-775 passes, some of the rights of PAS users will become subject to negotiations between the union and government appointees. PAS users will not be able to select their own representatives for these collective bargaining negotiations.
Although I-775 contains language that seems to create programs that provide oversight and quality assurance for users of PAS, the initiative provides no funding for any of these programs. In fact, the Legislature has had the authority to fund these programs for years, and has declined to do so.
Supporters of the initiative, primarily organized labor, are marketing I-775 as a measure that will improve the quality of services provided to people with disabilities. The polls conducted by the backers of I-775 show that this is the only way they can gain the votes they need for passage. People with disabilities are being used to sell this initiative, but if the measure passes, they are the ones who stand to lose the most.
WPAS has issued several issue papers that express our concerns about this initiative. Please continue reading to learn more about I-775.
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What does Initiative 775 do?
 | Initiative 775 creates a board of nine members who are appointed by the Governor, who will administer a "home care quality authority." Although five of the members must be current or former consumers of Personal Assistance Services (PAS), the Governor has sole authority to appoint board members. |
| The home care quality authority is given duties that they will perform if, and only if, the legislature provides funding. These duties include the responsibility to establish qualifications and standards for individual providers, undertake recruiting activities, provide training for individual providers, and create a "registry" from which consumers may select an individual provider. There are no guarantees that any funding will be available for any of these "quality assurance" provisions of the initiative – in fact, the legislature has long had the authority to provide funding for almost all of these activities and has declined to do so. |
| The independent providers of PAS may form a collective bargaining unit and negotiate with the home care quality authority. The right to unionize is assured by the initiative, and is not dependent on legislative action. I-775 states that individual providers do not have the right to strike, but provides no penalties for unlawful work stoppages. |
| The collective bargaining that takes place between the "home care quality authority" and the union representing PAS providers will have important implications for users of PAS. These discussions will define the employer/employee relationship between individual PAS providers and PAS users. Unfortunately, PAS users will have no direct voice in the negotiations. Their rights as employers will be affected by agreements reached by union representatives and appointees of the Governor. |
| The home care quality authority, the area agencies on aging, and their contractors become exempt from liability for the action (or inaction) of any individual provider. |
| Individual providers will gain the right to be represented by a union and bargain for improved working conditions through democratically elected union representatives. Consumers of personal assistance services will have their interests represented by appointees of the governor. |
The supporters of I-775 claim this law will benefit PAS users. But organized labor, the primary sponsor of I-775, does not necessarily have the same interests as people with disabilities. Please scroll down to the next article to find out "Who is standing up for the rights of people with disabilities and seniors?"
For a more detailed discussion of I-775, read "Initiative 775: What’s in it for users of Personal Assistance Services?"
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I-775: Who is standing up for the rights of people with disabilities and seniors?
I-775 looks good. Why would seniors or people with disabilities oppose it?
The so-called "Homecare Quality Initiative" is misnamed. I-775 is primarily a labor initiative - it allows independent providers of Personal Assistance Services (PAS) to unionize. That is why the AFL-CIO is financing the campaign for the initiative.
Doesn’t I-775 have "quality assurance" provisions for seniors and people with disabilities?
I-775 talks about standards and training, but does not require the Legislature to fund those provisions. With or without I-775, PAS users must continue to seek funding for the quality assurance they need.
I-775 contains language that addresses the rights of PAS users, so what’s the problem?
The protections are inadequate. It appears to protect PAS user rights to hire and fire individual providers, but says nothing about a standard for termination. When unions engage in collective bargaining, one of their core principles is that any termination of employment be for "just cause."
PAS users, however, need stronger protections. Personal Assistants at times perform the most intimate of tasks including bathing and toileting. A PAS user does not want to justify why they terminate someone and certainly does not want to be bathed by a provider they tried unsuccessfully to fire.
Who is watching out for the rights of seniors and people with disabilities?
The authors of I-775, primarily organized labor, are asking PAS users to trust them to provide adequate protections. Unfortunately, there are times when PAS users and organized labor have different points of view about what protections are needed.
For a more detailed discussion of I-775, please scroll down to the next article, "Initiative 775: What’s in it for users of Personal Assistance Services?"
Questions or comments about I-775? Contact Phil Jordan at WPAS.
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I-775: What's in it for users of Personal Assistance Services?
Initiative 775 is designed to achieve the goal of its major sponsor – Service Employees International Union. That goal is to unionize individual Personal Assistance Services (PAS) providers. But the Initiative is promoted as a measure that helps the users of PAS. Will I-775 address the concerns of people with disabilities who use PAS services? Consider the following points.
Initiative 775 fails to address the underlying problem in the provision of quality PAS - lack of money.
I-775 does not require the Legislature to fund any of the authorized activities that would most benefit PAS users. Almost all of the activities could already be performed under current authority if the funding was available.
The availability of funding is the most critical problem facing PAS users. The assumption implicit within I-775 seems to be, if individual providers of PAS are allowed to unionize, the money will follow. But I-775 does nothing to address the funding realities of this state.
Initiative 775 does not adequately protect the right of PAS users to hire and fire their individual providers.
When unions engage in collective bargaining, they are seeking to improve the working conditions of their members. Two of their core principles are "just cause," as a standard for termination, and "due process" as a protection against wrongful termination. In most work settings "just cause" and "due process" provisions in a collective bargaining agreement are vital protections.
But PAS users have a different interest. Individual PAS providers at times perform the most intimate of tasks including bathing and toileting. An "at will" standard for termination better serves the needs of a PAS user. A PAS user does not want to justify why they terminate someone and certainly does not want to be bathed by someone who has been reinstated after a successful grievance.
I-775 states the PAS user maintains the right to hire and fire an individual provider. But the initiative does not specify the standard for terminating a PAS provider. I-775 should have included clear language stating that "at will" is the standard for terminating an individual PAS provider.
Initiative 775 restricts the liability of the authority it creates, its members, the area agencies on aging, and its contractors.
Restricting liability is a disincentive to the provision of quality PAS and a disservice to PAS users. I-775 reduces accountability and jeopardizes the health and safety of PAS users.
Initiative 775 does not adequately protect PAS users from unlawful strikes and/or work stoppages.
Yes, I-775 has language that prohibits strikes. But anyone who witnessed the recent work stoppages at Western State Hospital, Rainier Residential Habilitation Center and other state facilities knows a law prohibiting this kind of activity is not enough to stop it. The initiative should include provisions for stiff penalties and required enforcement of those penalties when any individual PAS provider endangers the life or safety of a person with a disability by engaging in an unlawful strike or work stoppage.
Initiative 775 does not provide adequate representation at the collective bargaining table of the interests of PAS users.
I-775 includes language that makes it appear that PAS users will maintain their role as employer and that the authority established will only be an employer of "record". However, with the advent of collective bargaining between the individual PAS providers and the home care quality authority, many of the prerogatives of the employer will be subject to the collective bargaining process.
Under I-775, PAS users would not get to choose who represents them at the collective bargaining table. The Governor is given the sole authority to appoint consumer representatives. PAS users could end up with no say at all on the wages, benefits and work conditions that directly affect the quality of services provided to them.
Backers of Initiative 775 cite California and Oregon as places where their proposal has worked without offering any objective studies documenting that indeed it has.
Is the turnover among individual PAS providers down in California and Oregon? Are providers easier to find? Is the quality of individual applicants for provider jobs up? Are PAS users more satisfied with the quality of their services? Are the individualized needs of PAS users being met? Have PAS users maintained their control as employer of individual providers? Are PAS being provided in a way that prioritizes the needs of the user? Are there problems with the way the proposal has been implemented in Oregon and California? If so, what are they?
Shouldn’t we seek to replicate the successes and avoid the pitfalls experienced by our neighbors? These questions should have been answered by objective research before the specifics of the initiative were developed.
Initiative 775 was created without adequate or timely consultation with the disability community. Important stakeholders – people with disabilities who are PAS users – were not included in the development of a public policy that intimately affects their lives.
People in the disability-rights movement have often said, "Nothing about us without us!" How to provide quality PAS is a complex public policy problem that requires substantive stakeholder input from everyone involved. It should not be left up to a one-sentence ballot initiative whose details will not be read by most voters. It is a problem that requires the scrutiny of a public, legislative process, not the over-simplified, "take-it-or-leave-it" approach of a ballot initiative.
The public campaign for selling Initiative 775 is deceptive.
Wages, benefits and work conditions for individual PAS providers are pitiful - but that has not been the focus of the public campaign for this Initiative. I-775 is billed as a measure that will improve the quality of services provided to people with disabilities. The polls conducted by the backers of I-775 show that this is the only way they can gain the votes they need for passage.
Because people with disabilities are being used to sell this initiative, the benefits to them should be substantial and concrete. Unfortunately, the only thing we know for certain about I-775 is that it will allow for the unionization of individual PAS providers. Everything else is subject to legislative funding. Initiative 775 is, in essence, a labor initiative that throws a few crumbs in the direction of the disability community. The people who are marketing this initiative hope to create the false perception that I-775 will do great things for people with disabilities. It won’t. And that’s a shame because had there been a serious effort to find more common ground there could have been a great step forward.
Questions or comments about I-775? Contact Phil Jordan at WPAS.
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Sidebar: Superior Court Judge Orders Changes to I-775 Voters Pamphlet Statement
On Friday, September 7, WPAS filed an Appeal in Superior Court to challenge the explanatory statement drafted by the office of the Attorney General that organized labor had hoped would be included in the Washington State Voters Pamphlet. The Court agreed with WPAS that the wording in the statement was not clear, and ordered several changes. Among the ordered changes were:
| The statement must make it clear that the union and the new authority would negotiate matters other than worker’s pay. The original statement implied that compensation for workers would be the only topic discussed in collective bargaining. The actual text of I-775 is clear, however, that negotiations between the union and the government-appointed authority would include other matters, too. This part of I-775 is particularly dangerous for people with disabilities. Once collective bargaining begins, providers will have their union representatives speaking for them. PAS users, on the other hand, will not be able to select their representatives. The Governor will choose for them. |
| The statement must make it clear that funding is necessary to implement the entire initiative, including the quality assurance provisions. The original statement was misleading as it indicated that funding by the Legislature was needed only for the collective bargaining features of the initiative. |
| The statement must indicate that I-775 shields the new authority, the area agencies on aging, and their contractors from some or all forms of liability. This portion of the initiative weakens protections for people with disabilities, yet the original version of the statement made no mention of the provision. |
Questions or comments about I-775? Contact Phil Jordan at WPAS.
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