Gregoire to Home Care Workers: Pretend it's 1999
IP Bargaining Update #3 (July 8, 2010)
Do you remember when home care workers made $7.00 an hour - no health benefits, almost no training? That’s essentially what Governor Gregoire thinks is appropriate for caregivers who take care of the state’s most vulnerable seniors and people with disabilities.
The Governor is proposing cuts to health care, cuts to training and a freeze on wages.
Tell the Governor to show home care workers some respect. Click here to send her a fax with a very simple message, “We don’t want to go back to1999. Show us some respect!”
Two million people voted for Initiative 1029 so that seniors and people with disabilities would get the quality care they deserve. Without enough money for health benefits and pay freezes for the foreseeable future – home care workers may as well turn back the clock.
Mike Roth, from Seattle, has been a caregiver for 35 years. Before he had health insurance through our union, he cut himself opening a can of food. That cost him $400 in medical expenses. Money he didn’t have.
About a year ago, under the health plan offered to caregivers, he had a routine screening for colon cancer. When the tests came back positive, he was able to get the polyps removed and go back to work in just a few days, at no cost. For Mike and caregivers like him, health insurance not only means peace of mind. It also saves lives.
Without adequate health care, we’ll be turning to Basic Health and Emergency Rooms. Seniors and people with disabilities will not get the care they need.
Tell the Governor that Mike and the almost 40,000 home care workers in Washington State deserve better than this.
We are being asked to care for clients who are in worse condition than ever before. It’s not just cooking, cleaning and everyday chores. We’re caring for people with advanced stage Alzheimer’s and dementia. It’s managing Diabetes. Severe depression. Aggressive and sometimes violent behavior.
If the Governor doesn’t find the money to fund health care and training, people will suffer.
Click here to tell Governor Gregoire to show caregivers, seniors and people with disabilities, and the voters of Washington state some respect.