Court halts Pa. from finalizing agreement with home care workers

     A preliminary injunction from Commonwealth Court has blocked part of Gov. Tom Wolf's effort to give in-home caregivers a role in how Pennsylvania programs pay for -- and shape -- long-term care.(<a href=Photo via ShutterStock) " title="shutterstock_218198704" width="1" height="1"/>

    A preliminary injunction from Commonwealth Court has blocked part of Gov. Tom Wolf's effort to give in-home caregivers a role in how Pennsylvania programs pay for -- and shape -- long-term care.(Photo via ShutterStock)

    Gov. Tom Wolf has said his executive order letting in-home care aides elect someone to meet with state officials gives workers a voice. Under a partial injunction issued Thursday, that voice would be somewhat muted.

     

    Commonwealth Court Judge Dan Pellegrini has ruled workers can still elect a representative to meet with state officials about matters including standards, training, working conditions. But Pellegrini barred the parties from putting any agreement in writing.

    The preliminary injunction has blocked part of the governor’s effort to give in-home caregivers a role in how state programs pay for — and shape — long-term care.

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    The judge has also scheduled a hearing on the merits of the executive order in September, before a panel of judges.

    Both sides in the legal dispute are calling the ruling a victory. Wolf’s legal aides stressed that it allows the election of a workers’ representative to go forward. Opponents of the executive order said the injunction blocks “the most critical part” – a written agreement between parties.

    The lawsuits over Wolf’s order were filed by two health care associations (Pennsylvania Homecare Association and United Cerebral Palsy of Pennsylvania, as well as two home care clients and one home care worker) and the Fairness Centre, a public interest law firm with ties to the Commonwealth Foundation, a free-market group based in Pennsylvania.

    They say Wolf is trying to let in-home caregivers unionize – and state law doesn’t allow domestic service workers to engage in collective bargaining and unionizing. The governor’s administration insists Wolf’s executive order does not establish an in-home caregivers’ union.

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