Following our story last week on Washington State’s ballot initiative, we were contacted about a ballot initiative in Missouri that also deals with long-term care workers.

The ballot question called Proposition B would create a Quality Home Care Council that would run a statewide registry, coordinate backup services, offer trainings, and negotiate with workers over wages and benefits–if they choose to form a union. Similar councils exist in Oregon, Washington, Massachusetts, Michigan, Wisconsin, and California.

According to the Missourians Quality Home Care Campaign, a consumer-led council in California can be credited with helping to achieve the following:

• Workforce turnover fell 57 percent over a five-year period.
• The supply of workers increased by 54 percent.
• Consumers reported greater satisfaction with services following the wage and benefit improvements.

Krissi Jimroglou contacted us from SEIU Healthcare, (Service Employees International Union) in St. Louis. Jimroglou told us that her group has been working in coalition with consumers, disability and senior advocates, and grassroots organizations to collect the signatures needed to get Prop B on the November ballot.

“We’ve got attendants in motion around the state in TV ads and at town hall meetings, talking about what Prop B would do,” said Jimroglou.

For more on the merits of the proposition, read the endorsements by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Kansas City Star.

Aaron Toleos, Online Communications Director
atoleos@phinational.org