On July 26, over one hundred 1199 homecare workers, along with public officials, held speak-out and rally outside of the Accent Care agency’s Bronx office to demand that the company’s executives treat their workers with respect by offering them paid sick days and affordable health insurance for themselves and their families. Mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio, a strong advocate for healthcare, told the crowd that these workers are standing up for basic rights. Other public officials who came out in support included NYS Assembly members Carl Heastie and Mark Gjonaj and City Council members Annabel Palma and Andy King.

Accent Care workers spoke about the difficulties they have been facing due to the company’s unwillingness to negotiate fairly. “We are going through hell because Accent Care won’t give us sick days and they won’t give us vacation days. We need to stand up for our rights in order to advance as caregivers.” Said Joyce Tetteh, a Home Health Aide with Accent Care.

Every day, Accent Care home health aides work hard to provide compassionate care to the elderly and other vulnerable New Yorkers. Yet company executives refuse to treat them with compassion. These caregivers voted to form their union three years ago, but remain without a contract because the company refuses to negotiate fairly. Accent Care does not offer them paid sick days. When they call in sick, management pressures them to come into work. The health insurance the company offers is too expensive for many of these workers, leaving them and their families uninsured. Like all uninsured people, they are more likely than those with insurance to develop health conditions that could have been avoided and make it impossible for them to keep caring for the clients. By compromising the health of their workers, Accent Care could be compromising care for vulnerable New Yorkers.