‘I’m concerned’: WA Cares critics say program steers caregivers into union membership

A program created in 2019, WA Cares, has come under new scrutiny, with Elizabeth New, a director at the Washington Policy Center, claiming it is misleading the public.

New’s gripe is that the public was told that by joining the program, they could care for a family member in their old age without joining a union. But now, anyone looking to sign up for the program is guided to become a union member, with no alternatives.

“The part that I’m concerned with is they told the public that if you’re caring for your dad, you can get paid for caring for your dad in his elderly state, and you don’t have to join a union,” New said on “The John Curley Show” on KIRO Newsradio. “But right now, it looks like they’re guiding you to become a union member and then some of that WA Cares money that’s already inadequate to pay for long-term care, will be going toward a union.”

Mandatory payroll tax funds lifetime benefit, critics say the only path to caregiving runs through a union

New noted that it is mandatory for roughly 58 cents of every $100 earned by everyone in Washington to be paid toward the program, resulting in a lifetime benefit of $36,500 for eligible individuals starting in July 2026.

Curley highlighted that since the money is coming from Washington, the state imposes certain requirements regarding how they’re going to pay you and the type of care you’re going to provide. There is an opt-out, but as it stands, it looks like the program wants people to sign up and be a part of a union.

“That’s the hard part I’m having with it. I’ve talked to them in every webinar they host to tell providers how to enroll with WA Cares so they can provide care to family members or to other people,” New said. “They say that there’s another pathway that we’re going to have for people who are just caring for family members, so they don’t have to join a union and give some of their money to unions. They have not had it yet. They do not have it online. They do not talk about it in the webinar.

“If you’re going to sign up to be a caregiver for a family member who is a WA Cares beneficiary, you might be expedient and just click the links provided, which is a union connected to SEIU, and will have you paying union dues and being a member,” New continued. “That’s what I’m hoping people understand. You can choose to be part of a union to give care to someone who is a WA Cares beneficiary, but the law says you don’t have to be, and yet, there’s no recipe for how to go about this without Consumer Direct Care Washington, which makes you a union member.”

Curley also shared that, given the way the program was created, the share of money needed can keep increasing if they see fit, with the possibility of that 58 cents turning into $1 or even $5 for every $100 earned.

“Then you’re going to have people who make $50,000 a year, contributing at the same level as somebody who’s making $300,000 a year,” Curley said.

“That’s the hard part. You’re giving workers wages, including low-income workers, entry-level workers, to people who sometimes have zero need for any taxpayer dependency, people making loads of money,” New responded. “The hard part of this is watching wages be taken from people who need them to pay for child care, medical bills, groceries, and fuel that we tax at an exorbitant amount, and we’re asking them to give their money over to someone who doesn’t need it.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

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