Workers at the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, a shelter that serves the unhoused community and more than 22,000 families and individuals a year in Denver, voted to unionize Wednesday.
The vote comes after an almost year-long organizing campaign by staff. They cited low pay, high employee turnover, and inadequate resources required to serve the community as reasons for unionizing.
“I think that people in social work, people often say that ‘We're not in it for the money,’ and while that's also kind of true, I think that this idea that we also don't need our needs met just like our clients, creates a bigger division between us,” Sarah Pfister, a peer specialist at the Coalition for the Homeless, told Denverite.
“And I think that honoring the humanity in us would be making this union, so our needs are met just like their needs are met,” she said. “It reduces the power differential between us and our clients, and that's what I think the union is going to do.”
They're not the first unhoused support workers to unionize
The push for a union began shortly after staff at Urban Peak, a homeless shelter for Denver youth, became the first workforce in the unhoused support sector to unionize in Colorado in 2023.
Stephanie Felix-Sowy — president of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 105, which represents both Urban Peak and Colorado Coalition — says that she’s not surprised that the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless workers followed suit.
“Workers are fed up,” Felix-Sowy said. “I think we're going to continue to see this trend specifically in [the support sector] industries. And I would say it's a reflection of what's happening in this nation and across the state with union growth.”
Workers say there are 'glaringly obvious problems'
Dan Calderon, a case manager at Colorado Coalition for Homeless, has only worked at the Coalition for the last five months but he says it only took him “a week to sign the card.”
“You don't have to be at CCH long to realize that these are very glaringly obvious problems and that they do have a very tangible effect on our client's outcomes and on the work and the support that we can provide,” Calderon said. “The difference between me and a client is just the fact that I am privileged and that I have enough stability in my life to be able to go into human services and support folks that aren't as privileged as I am.”
He says that in addition to lack of adequate pay, he feels that workers at the Coalition are not supported.
“The only thing that [leadership] really do is acknowledge our concerns and express gratitude,” he said. “And I mean, at the end of the day, gratitude doesn't pay my rent, gratitude doesn't put food on my table.”
Colorado Coalition for Homeless’s leadership used “fearmongering” and “union-busting tactics” to try and prevent the union from forming, Calderon said.
“Leadership and HR have really gone out of their way to encourage folks to vote no [to the union],” he said.
How did the Coalition respond?
In a statement released after the union vote, the executive team at Colorado Coalition for the Homeless said they are, “committed to working collaboratively with SEIU and the impacted employees through the next phase of the collective bargaining agreement process, while continuing to provide high-quality housing, healthcare, and supportive services to individuals and families experiencing or at risk of homelessness throughout Colorado.”
