Direct Care Professionals deserve better.
We are a community of Direct Care Professionals across New York who are starting a union to fight for fair minimum staffing levels, balanced workloads, better wages and benefits, and respect for our essential role in taking care of our communities.
In this fight, we have the support of UFCW Local 888, the union for direct care & healthcare workers. UFCW Local 888 represents care facilities across the Northeast, and we’re so excited to start this new chapter with their support. Union organizers from Local 888 are helping us talk with more and more of our coworkers every day about what we need to change at direct care providers across New York.
Want to learn more? Fill out the form below to get connected with us and find out how we’re ushering in a new era at our organization with our union.
Direct Care Union Updates
Over 450 Direct Care Professionals in Florida Vote to Unionize | August 6th, 2026
Over 450 nursing aides, pharmacy techs, housekeepers, and dietary staff recently unionized in Florida. These caregivers work at multiple facilities across the state: Lakeland Regional Health, Aviata Health Group, Blue Circle Healthcare, and Award Care.
Workers shared that they’re unionizing to fight for higher pay, stronger benefits, and fair treatment across the board. This victory shows the power that care professionals can build by talking to their peers about the issues facing their workplace and their entire industry.
Some of these caretakers hadn’t seen a raise in years, and they were thrilled to hear that starting a union would give them the opportunity to push for more.
AHRC Union Members in NY Continue Bargaining First Contract | July 21st, 2026
This summer, the bargaining committee for the union workers at AHRC Nassau has continued to meet with the company and get closer to finalizing a first contract. Workers sat down with company leadership on July 22, August 4th, and August 12th, standing up for guaranteed raises which help them make ends meet during a turbulent period for the direct care industry.
The DSPs at AHRC Nassau are staying strong with the support of UFCW Local 888 as they fight to make sure they earn what they deserve for their essential work.
Union Workers meet with NY State Reps to demand immediate investment in Direct Support Staff | March 4th, 2026
Today, leaders from UFCW Local 888 joined more than 30 union workers and representatives at the State Capitol in Albany to demand greater investment in the direct care professionals who keep New York’s communities healthy.
Over the course of the day, these workers attended 21 meetings with state representatives to speak out on behalf of caretakers and support staff across New York who’ve been struggling with low pay and severe understaffing due to a recruiting and retention crisis.
During their meetings, this union coalition advocated for stronger cost-of-living adjustments via the COLA system, along with a greater overall investment in wage increases for direct care professionals through new Article VII language in the state budget.
Going directly to the lawmakers who influence the Direct Care industry empowers workers to move the needle for all of their peers, regardless of whether they have a union at their job. Read more about the full scope of UFCW Local 888’s recent advocacy here.
Over 900 AHRC Workers in Long Island, New York Win Their Union Election | September 24th, 2025
We’re excited to share that our fellow DSPs at AHRC in Nassau County, NY won their union election. Over 900 direct care professionals now get to come into work knowing that they have a strong union backing them up as they continue to care for their patients. We’re looking forward to the next chapter for our union, where we’ll start negotiating to win our first contract with the support of UFCW Local 888.
We’re encouraging our coworkers at other AHRC facilities across New York to join us as we grow our union. There’s never been a better time for care workers at AHRC to come together and unionize our facilities to give us more power to fight for better wages, fair workloads, adequate staffing, and all the support we need to continue providing excellent care for individuals in our communities.
Who We Represent
UFCW Local 888 is NY & NJ’s Union for Direct Care Workers
We’re building our union with the support of UFCW Local 888 because they have decades of experience representing direct support professionals and healthcare workers across New York and New Jersey.
UFCW Local 888 has helped thousands of other healthcare workers win a brighter future on the job, empowering them to continue offering top-quality care to their patients. And as an international union, UFCW represents over 55,000 healthcare professionals like hospital staff, registered nurses, certified nursing assistants, and direct support professionals. With their union, UFCW healthcare workers have won fair staffing levels, better scheduling, living wages, and respect for their essential work in caring for our communities.
If you’re facing the same issues the rest of us have, we want to hear from you. Fill out the form below, and we’re happy to connect you with an organizer whose job it is to help you and your coworkers win better conditions at your provider.
Get Connected With Us
Learn Why New York’s Direct Care Workers Are Unionizing
What We’re Fighting For With Our Union
Across New York, direct care staff have been fighting for better wages, strong benefits, and all the workplace policies they need to take care of their patients and their own families as well. At UFCW Local 888, we help direct care professionals like you stand up for.
Balanced Workloads:
It’s exhausting to feel like your employer is expecting you to do more than what’s reasonable. But, with a union, you can set fair expectations that help you do your best work when caring for individuals in your community.
Fair Pay for Hard Work
If you’re taking on extra responsibility at your organization, you deserve to be paid for all your effort. With a union, you and your coworkers can establish fair standards for how much you’re paid, so you can bring home consistent paychecks and take care of your loved ones.
Protections from Understaffing
When your employer doesn’t schedule enough staff for each shift, it can feel like you’re struggling to stay afloat. But, when you have a union, you can push for guaranteed minimum staffing levels to make sure all the individuals you care for get the attention they need.
Fair Discipline Standards
When our coworkers are unfairly disciplined, they risk losing work not just from their current workplace but also from other providers across the state of New York. But with a union, it’s not just your word against management’s: you’ll have union reps to back you up and help protect your livelihood.
Respect for our Essential Work
Direct support professionals like you play an essential role in keeping our communities healthy, and you deserve to be treated with respect every day. With a union, you can stand up for your dignity and speak out when you feel like you’re not being treated like you should be.
Higher Safety Standards
Your work as a support professional carries its own inherent risks, and with a union, you can stand up for any protections you feel are necessary to keep yourself safe when on the clock.
Frequently Asked Questions about the Direct Care Union
How will having a union benefit us?
Having a union at your provider gives you a voice to stand up for better pay, fair staffing levels, balanced workloads, and all the benefits you deserve. Our work is essential to our communities, and with a union, we can guarantee we’re respected for everything we do. Thousands of other direct support professionals across NY have won a better future on the job with their union, you can do the same.
How does UFCW Local 888 support direct care workers?
UFCW Local 888 believes DSP staff like you are essential to our communities, and we’re committed to helping caretakers win better working conditions and raise the bar for what it looks like to work in the industry.
At UFCW 888, we’ve supported direct care workers for over 15 years, and we currently represent over 2,100 DSP staff across New York. We’re ready to help you take charge of your future in your career – fill out the form above to get connected with us.
What’s the best way for me to get involved?
The best way for you to get plugged in as we’re building our union is to reach out to an organizer from UFCW Local 888. They’re helping us talk with more and more of our coworkers every day, so fill out the form above to set up a time to chat with a Local 888 team member about the changes you want to see at work!