Better care. Better jobs. A better Baltimore.
Baltimore has a rich history as a strong working class city, where good union jobs were once plentiful. But in the last 50 years, as the global economy shifted, so did those jobs. Today, the city’s only remaining large industry is healthcare—mostly low-paying, non-unionized jobs where employees have no voice at work, and often cannot afford health insurance for their children.
Is it any wonder that a once-great city today struggles with poverty and broken neighborhoods?
Because 1 in 5 Baltimore jobs is in healthcare, raising living standards for caregivers will expand the middle class, boost the local economy and bring about a revitalization of our city.
Today, Baltimore workers are struggling, especially caregivers
- 21% of all Baltimoreans lived below the poverty level in 2009. (1)
- Baltimore’s caregivers, such as nurse’s aides, make less per hour than the same workers in other major East Coast cities. (2)
- Many caregivers cannot afford healthcare for themselves or their children. The rate of healthcare workers without insurance is 73% higher than for other workers in Maryland. (3)
- Baltimore caregivers are 2.5 times more likely to be on food stamps than other workers in Maryland. (4)
When workers have a voice, our entire city benefits
- Healthcare workers in the U.S. who are in a union make an average of $11,000 more than non-union workers, and are 62% more likely to have employer-provided healthcare. Better jobs for healthcare workers means more stable families with greater resources to stimulate the local economy. (5)
- Female union members earn 34% more than women without a union, and African-American union members earn 29% more than those without one. (6)
- In Baltimore, 250 members at 26 employers have advanced their medical careers by accessing 1199SEIU’s training fund. When workers move up the economic ladder, our whole city benefits.
That’s why we need free & fair union elections
- When hospitals try to stop workers from having a voice, they waste valuable resources on fear campaigns.
- Free and fair union elections keep workers focused on patient care because they allow workers to make up their own minds free from intimidation, in a fair secret ballot vote.
- Join with us! We’re calling on hospital and nursing home CEOs to allow all healthcare workers to vote in fair union elections.
It’s the first step toward a better Baltimore
Citations: SOURCES: 1) US Census American Community survey; 2) Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. FY 2011 October Preliminary Public Use File; 3) U.S, Census Bureau. 2008 American Community Survey Public Use Microdata Sample; 4) U.S, Census Bureau. 2006-2008 American Community Survey Public Use Microdata Sample; 5) Minnesota Population Center. Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, Current Population Survey, http://cps.ipums.org/cps/; 6) U.S, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Union Membership (Economic News Release). Table 2; www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.t02.html