Local 2/Hospitality Industry Child & Elder Care Plan
 
 
Program Information

The Child & Elder Care Benefits Program is administered by the San Francisco Culinary, Bartenders and Service Employees Health and Welfare Trust Fund and funded by contributions from Participating Employers.

You are eligible to participate in the Child & Elder Care Benefits Program if you meet two requirements:

  • Your employer must make contributions to the Child & Elder Care Benefits Program. Check the list of Participating Employers to find out if your employer contributes.
  • You must work enough hours or shifts to qualify.  Check with your employer or your union for more details.

The Child & Elder Care Benefits Program helps eligible participants pay for newborn expenses, child care, youth programs, and care for elderly or disabled relatives. For teens and their parents, we also offer a College Prep benefit that supplies a college coach to 12th graders. Visit our Benefits section for more details.

On this website, you can also find:

Program History

In 1994, citywide negotiations occurred between UNITE HERE Local 2 and 37 union hotels in San Francisco. Negotiations resulted in the creation of a fund for a new benefit program that would respond to the range of child, elder, and disabled adult care needs of employees in the local hospitality industry.

The joint labor-management Child/Elder Care Committee was created in 1995, to design and oversee this new benefit program. This committee was comprised of shop stewards, room cleaners, and human resource managers – a diverse group that represented both workers and their employers. Every committee member chosen was also someone who was responsible for a child, elder or disabled family member.

The Child/Elder Care Committee started its work by conducting an extensive needs assessment, including phone interviews, focus groups, and a written survey translated into Chinese and Spanish. This survey was distributed to 7,000 room cleaners, cooks, bellhops, and servers in all 37 participating hotels. The assessment found that most employees used informal child care because their work hours were often at times that traditional child care programs were closed. Programs that would match typical employee schedules were difficult to find and even more difficult to afford.

Because of this great need, the Child/Elder Care Committee collaborated on a plan for a benefits program that would use monthly contributions from participating employers to subsidize the child and elder care costs of employees. This plan was then recommended to the Board of Trustees of the San Francisco Culinary, Bartenders and Service Employees Welfare Fund, the joint labor-management body that oversees the administration of health and welfare benefits. The Board approved the plan and the Child & Elder Care Benefits Program began operations in 1997. Currently employees of over 50 employers, particularly hotels, participate in the program.

 

Staff
Director – Louise Rush

Program Coordinator –
Chris Rodriguez

Payment Coordinator –
Beatrice Mai

Hours
Monday & Wednesday
8:30 AM - 4:45 PM

Telephone NumberPhone
(415) 864-0506

Email
ChildElderPlan@
local2benefits.org

Click for MapVisit Us
247 Golden Gate Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94102