The name of our voluntary, grassroots political action fund is now called the Caregiver Action Fund, or CAF. This fund has been called COPE in the past. From now on, any contributions you make will show up as CAF on your pay stub instead of COPE. There is no change to this deduction. This is simply a name change.
Elected officials make decisions every day that impact the lives of long term care workers, our clients, and working families across the country. Every election, bosses and wealthy special interests spend huge sums to attempt to take away our rights and hard-fought victories. They also actively block our efforts to win other improvements to long-term care. In response, we must build our collective power and hold politicians accountable for their decisions.
That’s why we created the Caregiver Action Fund (CAF), our collective effort to win electoral and legislative victories, support our allies, and defeat attacks on our rights.
Like union membership, the Caregiver Action Fund is an opportunity to invest in the future of our work as long-term care providers. The Caregiver Action Fund allows long-term care workers to put our dollars together to support candidates and campaigns that protect and build the future of care for caregivers, our clients, and our families. It also keeps politicians accountable to the more than half a million long-term caregivers of SEIU 2015.
Because of our members’ investments in the Caregiver Action Fund, long term care workers across California have seen increased wages and benefits. We’ve won huge increases in our state’s minimum wage, increased state funding for In-Home Supportive Services, and elected representatives to Congress that are fighting to expand Medicaid and make quality affordable care available to all Americans. Here is a list of some of our recent victories made possible by CAF.
Will you join the fight and become a contributor to the Caregiver Action Fund?
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Frequently Asked Question
The Caregivers Action Fund (CAF) is SEIU Local 2015’s Committee On Political Engagement (COPE) program. It is a grassroots political action fund that gives our union the power to fight for long term care workers beyond the contract negotiating table. The Caregivers Action Fund allows us to come together to support legislation, policies, and candidates that prioritize caregivers, care recipients, and our families.
Membership dues allow us to come together to fight and win better contracts for long-term care workers and pay for worker benefits and discount programs. By paying dues, Local 2015 members are also entitled to participate in union meetings and elections, to run for union office, to vote to ratify contract agreements and access member benefits.
By law, your union is restricted on the use of your union dues for political purposes. That’s why the Caregivers Action Fund is so important.
CAF is a voluntary political fund that gives us the power to take our support for long term-care workers further by fighting for pro-caregiver, pro-recipient policies and candidates in the community, in the legislature, and at the ballot box.
Our wages, benefits and working conditions are often decided directly or indirectly by elected officials at the local, state and federal levels. For those of us working in California’s In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program, everything from federal Medicaid investment to state legislators to county supervisors impact what we win at the bargaining table. For those of us working in nursing facilities, our collective bargaining rights, job security, working conditions, and benefits are also directly impacted by things like Medicare reimbursement rates and staffing rules. To ensure effective collective bargaining, SEIU Local 2015 must be involved in electing candidates to local and state office who understand and value long term-care workers, and who will support policies to improve pay, benefits and working conditions for caregivers across the state.
Contributions to the Caregivers Action Fund go into SEIU’s Political Account for use in local, state, and federal activities. It does not become part of the general treasury. A portion of each contribution goes to the SEIU federal PAC at the International office for use in Presidential, Congressional, or U.S. Senate races.
CAF contributions go toward supporting candidates who will support long-term care workers. Contributions are also used to support voter registration, grassroots lobbying by members, get-out-the-vote programs, and legislation that protects SEIU members and their families.
CAF contributions allow SEIU Local 2015 to protect the rights and the victories our members have won year after year: wage increases, contract benefits, safer workplaces, and more.
They also give SEIU Local 2015 the ability to advocate for better policies on long term care, educate our elected officials on the impacts of proposed policy changes, and hold them accountable when they put special interests ahead of caregivers, recipients, and our families.
In short, your CAF contribution gives you and every SEIU Local 2015 member a powerful advocate at the federal, state, and local levels.
Some of the victories we’ve won using CAF contributions:
IHSS Overtime—won at the federal level
Healthcare: Passing the Affordable Care Act
Safe staffing ratios for nursing homes
Rent control
Higher wages (started in 2016 as a result of our Fight for $15 campaign)
CalSavers for IHSS workers
Better contracts
Some of the electoral victories we’ve won with the help of CAF contributions:
Elected long-term care champions to county Boards of Supervisors across the state
Sent care champions to the state House and Assembly
Won multiple rent control and housing measures across the state
Passed Statewide and Local Propositions such as:
Los Angeles County Measure A, which reduces homelessness through affordable housing construction, homelessness prevention, and support for vulnerable renters
Any active or retired member in good standing, SEIU Local 2015 employee, or their families can contribute to the Caregivers Action Fund.
Online: SEIU Local 2015 Members and employees can sign up to become contributors to the Caregivers Action Fund by completing the sign-up form above
By Phone: Call 855-810-2015 from 7 AM to 7 PM, Monday through Friday
Where dues are like an investment — helping negotiate higher pay and better benefits, the Caregivers Action Fund is more like an insurance policy — helping protect that investment from politicians and corporate entities who don’t have our best interests at heart.
