Transforming Lives: The Impact of SEIU Healthcare Florida on its Members

SEIU Healthcare Florida is the major union in the healthcare sector in Florida. This union is growing in a state with extremely low union membership, and in an industry that has been virtually unionfree in Florida in the past. In the private sector, Florida’s unionization rate in 2008 was the second lowest of all 50 states. Public policies in the state are not favorable to unions; it is a “right-to-work” state, meaning that unions and employers are forbidden to require employees covered by a union contract to pay union dues, thus weakening labor unions. Despite these obstacles, SEIU Healthcare Florida has grown almost ten-fold in the past 10 years, from a little over 1,000 members to well over 10,000. Through surveys, interviews, and focus groups, this report systematically investigates its impacts on members’ perceptions of changes in (a) conditions at the workplace; (b) quality of patient care; (c) wages and benefits; and (d) member participation in public affairs. The general results show this union to be a force for public betterment: higher quality patient care, greater incorporation of marginalized populations in the country’s civic and political affairs, greater equality for populations facing discrimination, a fairer and more “empowering” workplace, and better wages and benefits for healthcare workers.

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