Tell Labor Department to Adopt Home Care Worker Rule
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In December, the Obama administration proposed a new rule to bring the nation’s nearly 2 million home care workers under the protection of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA’s) minimum wage, overtime and other provisions.
But opponents who want to continue to deny these rights to home care workers are mounting a campaign to derail the proposed rule. With the public comment period now open, they are flooding the Department of Labor with negative comments and a barrage of lies, and their congressional friends are backing a bill (H.R. 3066) that attacks the proposed rule.
You can help these hardworking home care workers by clicking here to tell the Department of Labor to adopt the new FLSA rule for home care workers and here to send a message to your lawmakers urging them to oppose the bill.
Home care workers provide back-breaking personal care assistance to many older adults and individuals with disabilities. When President Obama announced the proposed rule, AFSCME President Gerald McEntee said: Read the rest of this entry »
Overtime Rule Proposed For Home Care Workers
Home care workers will have a measure of justice if a rule proposed by the Dept. of Labor goes into effect.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka applauded the proposed rule, which will extend federal minimum wage and overtime protections to the growing home care workforce:
“The Department of Labor’s proposed rule is a long-overdue matter of basic justice for the hundreds of thousands of workers who do the vital work of providing at-home care for our nation’s elderly and disabled citizens. Every person deserves fair pay for a hard day’s work. This rule ensures home health care workers receive the same minimum wage and overtime protections as virtually all other working people.”
Home care workers have been excluded from wage and hour protections since 1974 due to over-broad regulations and a hostile Supreme Court decision. As reported in USA Today, more than 90 percent of home care workers are women, while 50 percent are minorities. Some 40 percent rely on Medicaid, food stamps and other benefits to stay afloat.
Home care workers’ services will be increasingly critical as the population ages, yet they earn an average $17,000 to $20,000 a year.
Added Trumka:
“The proposed rule is a win-win for consumers and the home care workforce. Improved working conditions will attract new workers to this quickly-growing industry while reducing turnover among existing employees. This will allow more families the choice of home-based care as a long-term care option.”
Politics as Usual Targets Workers in States
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In Minnesota, they want to end the jobs of 15 percent of the men and women in the state workforce. In Tennessee, they want to take away the right of teachers to join unions. In Ohio, they want to eliminate collective bargaining rights for home health care and child care workers and restrict the bargaining rights of police officers and firefighters.
Who are they?
They are the new Republican governors and state legislators who are playing politics with the lives of workers and endangering the middle class. This trio of examples is just a small sample of the anti-worker legislation that is moving through state legislatures—where elected officials could and should be focusing on creating jobs. Click here, here and here for more.
Many of the legislators and governors elected last year with the support of massive corporate campaign spending now are pushing legislation and initiatives that would cut middle-class jobs, depress wages and weaken workers’ rights.
Read the rest of this entry »
King Day Gathering Challenges Ohio Gov. Kasich’s Attacks on Workers
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When Teresa Laws takes the bullhorn this evening, she will raise her voice to speak out for some of our most vulnerable citizens: children and those who need constant home care.
Laws will be one of the speakers when more than 400 union and civil rights activists gather at Cincinnati’s City Hall to condemn Republican Gov. John Kasich’s plan to strip Ohio child care and home health care workers of their right to bargain for a better life. The event is part of the annual AFL-CIO King Day celebration, which began yesterday in Cincinnati.
Throughout the conference, activists will send a message that Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of social and economic justice is not dead even in this tough political climate. Workers who provide vital services to the Cincinnati area—including home and child care providers and transit workers—will share their stories and concerns about Kasich and his allies’ attempts to blame and punish low-income workers for the state of the economy.
12,000 Missouri Home Care Workers Win Union
More than 12,000 home care workers in Missouri won a voice at work when they voted to join the Missouri Home Care Union, an alliance between AFSCME and SEIU. The mail ballot results were announced May 5.
AFSCME President Gerald McEntee says the victory is “a great day for home care workers and the people they serve.”
Thousands of Missouri families rely on home care workers to help their loved ones live independent lives. We will use our combined voice to fight unnecessary cuts that threaten quality home care services. Read the rest of this entry »
