From the earliest days of the labor movement, working people have come together to demand better—better pay, better treatment, better futures. Unions have been the engine behind nearly every labor protection we take for granted today. like the 40-hour work week, workplace safety standards, paid time off, and a minimum wage.
But these wins didn’t come easily—and they’re far from guaranteed. Many of us come from communities that have been pushed aside by systems that were never built for us. Progress only happens when we organize and fight for it, which is why we build our power together underneath the UDW banner.
Why UDW Matters
While unions across the country are rising to meet the rising challenges of our times, UDW stands at the heart of California’s care economy. We are an intergenerational force rooted in justice, built by and for care providers who were never meant to have union protection in the first place. We don’t just fight for labor rights—we fight for human dignity in every home, every county, every day.
We speak with one voice and it’s loud!
We know what happens when workers are divided: corporations take more and our families and communities suffer. That’s why we don’t negotiate as individuals—we negotiate together. When we sit down to negotiate wages, hours, and benefits, we do it with the full force of our union behind us.
We fight back against anti-worker attacks.
Let’s be clear: there is a coordinated, well-funded attack on unions happening right now. Billionaires and anti-worker politicians want to silence us, divide us, and roll back the protections we’ve fought hard to win. They pass laws that gut our right to organize. They spread lies about what unions do, but we fight every attempt to weaken our union. We expose their greed and defend not just what we’ve won, but the essential human rights and dignity of each of us.
We win real protections for real people.
Together, we’ve already won life-changing benefits, but we’re not even close to being done taking care of each other and our clients. These wins didn’t fall from the sky; we organized, showed up at county boards, state legislatures, bargaining tables, and carried our message out into the streets.
We organize where others won’t.
Our union was born out of injustice after generations of domestic workers were deliberately excluded from the basic labor laws that protected white, male-dominated industries. So we built our own path and organized in living rooms, church halls, and community centers. We demanded recognition and, decades later, we continue to fight for the critical workers that the system tries to ignore.
Why This Moment Matters
We are standing at a crossroads, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. Just months into this second Trump administration, corporate-backed politicians are doubling down on their efforts to crush the power of working people.
They’re attacking public services, slashing protections, canceling union contracts for federal employees, and funneling millions into campaigns designed to silence us, divide us, and dismantle the unions that protect our rights.
Vital programs like Medicaid, known and Medi-Cal in California, and IHSS face growing threats of privatization and cuts under bills like the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” (H.R.1)—a direct attack on care providers and the communities we serve. This legislation would hand more control to private interests, strip away public accountability, and make it harder for clients to get the care they need from trusted providers.
At the same time, overtime protections are on the chopping block, threatening the income and stability of thousands of UDW members who rely on every hour to survive.
So-called “right to work” laws are spreading disinformation to weaken our unity, while Supreme Court rulings continue to empower bosses and silence workers.
These attacks are not happening in isolation—they are part of a coordinated, well-funded movement to roll back decades of progress and crush the organizing power of working people, especially in sectors like care work.
Meanwhile, the cost of living keeps rising, and home care and family child care providers are being pushed to the edge. Our labor is essential, but too many elected officials still treat it as invisible. We know better. Our work is the backbone of California’s care economy—and it deserves protection, respect, and real investment.
We don’t have the luxury of waiting for change. We never have. This is our moment to fight harder, grow stronger, and stand together like never before. Because when they come for one of us, they come for all of us—and when we fight united, we win.