A union has petitioned a federal agency to make it the exclusive representative of all 190,000 personal assistants who serve participants in New York’s Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (“CDPAP”). As a result, personal assistants could be forced to accept union representation and pay union dues to provide home-based care to people with disabilities enrolled in CDPAP.
If you are a CDPAP personal assistant who opposes being unionized, please read this special notice or contact the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation for free information about your legal rights and options. Personal assistants have legal options available to them to challenge this scheme to unionize them.
On September 22, 2026, a union called 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East (“SEIU”) filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board requesting the federal agency conduct an election to certify SEIU as the exclusive representative of all consumer directed personal assistants working in New York’s CDPAP.
If certified, SEIU would become the exclusive representative of all personal assistants, irrespective of whether they support the union. SEIU would also gain the authority to enter into an agreement requiring that everyone must pay dues or fees to SEIU to act as a personal assistant. If this comes to pass, many personal assistants will have no choice but to give part of their wages to SEIU to continue to provide home-based care, often to their own loved ones.
In its petition with the federal labor board, SEIU claims that Public Partnerships LLC is the “employer” of personal assistants. In reality, personal assistants are employed by individuals enrolled in CDPAP. Public Partnerships is merely the state-appointed fiscal intermediary for CDPAP participants.
Public Partnerships entered into a secret agreement with SEIU while seeking to have New York make it the sole fiscal intermediary of all CDPAP participants. The deal was simple: SEIU would help Public Partnerships obtain a monopoly on being a fiscal intermediary and Public Partnerships would help SEIU obtain a monopoly on representing all personal assistants.
Personal assistants who do not want to be forced to accept or support SEIU have legal options to fight back. This includes opposing SEIU’s petition with the federal labor board in which SEIU claims that Public Partnerships is the employer of personal assistants.
The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation provides free legal aid and information to individuals who do not want to be forced to associate with a union against their will. If you are a personal assistant who would like free information about your legal rights and options, please contact the Foundation here or toll free at (800) 336-3600.
