SEIU Healthcare’s 40,000 private agency members fought hard last spring and secured the fourth IDOA rate increase in just three years. Thanks to our Union contract, we forced Chicago Commons to come to the table and negotiate how they will use this new state funding. 

Our bargaining committee worked tirelessly—analyzing survey results, crafting proposals, and negotiating with management—to win real gains for workers.

Chicago Commons members voted overwhelmingly to approve the new agreement we reached – here’s what we won: 

Big Wins in This Agreement 

✅ $1 Wage Increase + Retro Pay 
All employees will receive a $1 per hour raise, retroactive to January 1, 2025, with back pay for all hours worked this year. Please see the new scale below. 

✅ Expanded Seniority Wage Scale 
We extended the wage scale by five additional years, now recognizing up to 30 years of seniority—a 10-year increase since 2023! 

✅ 403(b) Employer Match – A First! 
For the first time, SEIU private agency home care workers have won a paid retirement benefit! Starting July 1, 2025, full-time employees (1,950+ hours worked in the prior year) will receive a 3% employer match on their 403(b) contributions. Note:  Part-time employees can still contribute without a match. 

✅ Improved Transportation Reimbursements 
We secured: 
🚗 Higher travel time pay between consecutive clients—now $17.30 per hour (up from Chicago’s minimum wage). 
🚕 Increased monthly transportation reimbursement for client-related trips, rising from $35 to $45 per month. 

What’s Next? 

To make these wins official, we need members to ratify this agreement. Stay tuned—details on the ratification process will be posted soon! 

New Wage Scale

Seniority	Effective 1/1/2025
Less than 1 year	$18.06/hour
1 year	$18.15/hour
2 years	$18.24/hour
3 years	$18.33/hour
4 years	$18.42/hour
5 years	$18.51/hour
6 years	$18.60/hour
7 years	$18.69/hour
8 years	$18.78/hour
9 years	$18.87/hour
10 years	$18.96/hour
11 years	$19.05/hour
12 years	$19.14/hour
13 years	$19.23/hour
14 years	$19.32/hour
15 years	$19.41/hour
16 years	$19.50/hour
17 years	$19.59/hour
18 years	$19.68/hour
19 years	$19.77/hour
20 years	$19.86/hour
21 years	$19.95/hour
22 years	$20.04/hour
23 years	$20.13/hour
24 years	$20.22/hour
25 years	$20.31/hour
26 years	$20.40/hour
27 years	$20.49/hour
28 years	$20.58/hour
29 years	$20.67/hour
30 years	$20.76/hour

Our Bargaining Committee

Rakaia Barnes
Kristen Johnson
Karen Johnson

Our History

Our story begins in the early 1980s, when a tenacious group of Black women on the South Side of Chicago started organizing home care workers in back yards and in church basements to discuss common issues they were facing on the job. Back then, home care workers were paid as little as $1/hour and had no access to benefits like health insurance.

Today, SEIU Healthcare is the fastest-growing union of healthcare, child care, home care and nursing home workers in the Midwest. Uniting more than 91,000 workers who provide vital care to our states’ children, seniors, patients and people with disabilities, we are committed to quality care and quality jobs for home care, hospital, nursing home and child care workers.