The
CAREGIVER s i a R
News from our union
p u g n i
Fall 2019
S S HI
R AISING UP
IHSS
WE ARE TAKING OUR FIGHT TO PROTECT HOME CARE
AND RAISE CAREGIVER PAY TO THE NEXT LEVEL Our union was formed 40 years ago with a simple yet important vision: seniors and people with disabilities deserve to live with dignity in their own homes and communities, and the caregivers who love and care for them deserve respect and a living wage. In bargaining, IHSS providers who are members of the UDW bargaining team go head-to-head with the county boards of supervisors, who decide our pay. And most of the time, boards refuse to recognize the value of what we do for our clients and our communities. Some of them see us as “babysitters,” while others think we should be doing this work for free. As a workforce made up mostly of women and people of color, we are sick and tired of being devalued and disrespected. That’s why we are joining together to say enough of the low pay—we demand respect now. And in many counties, it’s working. In Riverside County, where we just won a raise and eliminated the health care wait list for 1,500 members, we moved our board of supervisors to act by bringing our most powerful tool: our stories.
April Kwiatkowski described what it is like to care for her boyfriend’s grandmother, who has Alzheimer’s and a broken back. “A lot of nights, I get up in the middle of the night to tend to her as she screams out in pain. I gave up a pretty good job to be able to care for her [but we] don’t want her in a home, which we all know is a death sentence.”
A living wage for a single adult in California is $14.61—Yet IHSS providers make just $12.44 per hour on average, and most of us have families to take care of.
Though UDW members have already won new contracts and tentative agreements in Riverside, Mono, Orange, Imperial, and Santa Barbara counties this year, 14 of our counties still do not have current contracts. So we’re coming together and turning up the heat. In Butte County, which was ravaged by the Camp Fire last year, IHSS providers have been without a contract for six years. “IHSS providers are suffering at your hands, denying us wages,” said Carnella Marks, caregiver and Butte County UDW representative, at a recent board of supervisors meeting.
“You took an oath to meet the needs of elders in this community. I urge you to get up out of your seat [and] advocate for funding for this program.” But it’s not just providers and our families who suffer when caregiver pay is too low. In Stanislaus County the caseload is so big, and the number of caregivers so few, that seniors and people with disabilities are dying before they are able to access the care they so desperately need. And yet, the board still doesn’t want to make caregiving a job we can afford to have. This needs to change now. If you’ve been looking for a way to make a difference for yourself, your client and your family, now is the time. If you live in one of the counties that is currently in bargaining, call your local office and find out how to get involved.
Happy Provider
Appreciation Month! Every November we celebrate Provider Appreciation Month, a time to thank caregivers for everything we do. At UDW, caregiving isn’t just about the services we perform for our clients: it’s about raising pay and benefits so we can keep doing this work and care for our families, it’s advocating for our communities and protecting the rights of seniors and people with disabilities, and it’s making our voices heard at the state capitol. Everything we accomplish is because of you, my fellow caregivers. Alone, our lives and our work can be isolating. Together, we are Caregiver Strong! This fall we will be holding Provider Appreciation events in all our counties. It is a time for us to come together and share our struggles—and our strengths. Contact your local UDW office and make plans to come. You deserve to be celebrated! In Solidarity,
Editha Adams UDW Statewide President
IHSS PAY RAISE VICTORIES! Alpine: $12.50 now, $14.50 by 2021 Imperial: $12.40 now, $14.40 by 2021 Orange: $12.25 now, $15.50 by 2022 Mono: $12.50 now, $15.50 by 2022 Riverside: $13.25 in 2020, $15.50 by 2022 San Diego: $12.50 now, $15.50 by 2022 Santa Barbara: $13.77 in 2020, $14.77 by 2021 Tuolumne: $12.50 now, $13.50 by 2020
If your county is not listed above, it means your local bargaining team is still fighting for pay raises! Counties currently in contract negotiations are Butte, El Dorado, Kern, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, San Luis Obispo, Sierra, Stanislaus, and Sutter.
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HappyProvider Appreciation Month!
T H E L AT E S T O N
ELECTRONIC VISIT VERIFICATION (EVV) This year we successfully fought to protect our privacy in the implementation of Electronic Visit Verification (EVV), a federally-mandated program that requires IHSS providers to electronically report certain aspects of the care we provide to our clients each day. Recently, the federal government issued new guidelines that put California’s planned implementation of EVV in jeopardy. Here’s what we know right now: • C alifornia officials don’t want electronic surveillance. The state of California has made it clear that it is not interested in the expense, hassle and privacy invasion of using GPS like the state of Ohio is using to fulfill their EVV requirement. • In spite of the new guidelines, California plans to move forward with its implementation as planned. • Live-in providers may now be exempt from EVV reporting requirements. We will keep you updated on this as it develops. UDW has fought EVV from the beginning and will continue to fight any policies that infringe on the civil and privacy rights of caregivers and our clients. The work we do is hard enough without having to add extra work or feel like someone is watching us. We will continue to update you as we work to settle the EVV issue once and for all.