THE WORK WE DO: Home Care Workers Deserve Better

More than 70 Home Care members from New York and Massachusetts traveled to Washington, DC on November 16 to join a national rally attended by the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D, CA), and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D, NY), along with several other Congressional representatives from New York, to press for the passing of the Build Back Better bill.

The legislation provides billions of dollars of investment in community based care, including Home Care.

It passed in the House a few days after the rally and, at press time, the national campaign for Build Back Better had moved to the Senate. If it passes there, 1199 Home Care members will be in a much stronger position to negotiate the wage and benefit increases they so richly deserve after risking their lives in the pandemic.

1. Anna Couch, a Home Care Delegate for nearly 19 years on Staten Island, NY. She works for the Personal Touch and Sunnyside Citywide agencies. “Now that the Build Back Better bill has passed the House, we need the Senate to do the same. We are strong and valuable essential workers, and we need to be recognized and valued like nurses and CNAs and all the other healthcare professionals.

5. Andrea Conneely, from Dutchess County, NY, has been looking after her own 90-year-old mother in the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP) for the past 7 years. “With tens of millions living into their eighties and beyond, the need for folks like me, who provide care, is eminent and essential. We as caregivers need to be recognized, heard, as well as receiving a sustaining living wage.”

2. Yan Looi, Home Care Delegate, who has been with the First Chinese agency in Manhattan for 5 years.

“I used to work 60 hours a week before the pandemic and [I lived] with my parents so we could afford to send money home to Malaysia. I am hoping to get my own place in public housing soon.

“It was great to go to Washington, DC, and see [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi and [Senate Majority Leader] Chuck Schumer up close when they came to our rally.”

6. Maria Brito, a Home Care Delegate who has worked from the Personal Touch agency in Brooklyn, NY for seven years. “I take the train all the way from Brooklyn to the Bronx to look after my client. Most of us worked all through the pandemic, risking our lives and health. Some of us died. It is time we receive the Hazard Pay we deserve!”

3. Elizabeth Davis, a Home Care worker for 37 years in Springfield, MA. She is committed to unionizing private agencies in her state. “President Biden is promising money to help fund better wages. But we still need a strong union to fight for those wages. That’s why we’re trying to unionize the private agencies in Massachusetts.”

7. Senate Majority Leader, Chuck Schumer, takes selfies with Home Care members from New York.

4. Dawn Haas, retired Home Care Delegate, who worked in Brooklyn, NY, for 20 years with the Premier agency. “Home Care Workers are the least celebrated essential workers. All through the pandemic, we heard a lot more about nurses, doctors and EMTs. I’m sick and tired of it. It’s about time we got some recognition from the government.

1199 Magazine | November - December 2021