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Home care workers at the Faith For Fair Pay for Home Care press conference at Union Headquarters February 24.
New York Attorney General, Letitia James (seated) surrounded by nursing home members and officers at Union headquarters.
“ It's a financial challenge for us to pay rent, provide food for our family, and the multiple trains and bus fares just to get to work.” – Iris Smith home care member Premier agency, Brooklyn
“They have revealed to me conditions in some of these nursing homes which are appalling,”
Members gather in Albany with Rev. Peter Cook, Executive Director, New York State Council of Churches. Getting ready for lobby visits at the Capitol on March 23.
NEW YORK
NY Governor Lifts Pause on Nursing Home Reform
Delrisa SewellHenry poses with 1199SEIU President George Gresham after speaking at the press conference held at Union Headquarters on March 22.
wages for home care workers. Taking action to ensure our elected representatives do the right thing for working people has been one of the hallmarks of 1199 since the early days. Back in 1963, a combination of relentless lobbying, expert public relations and strong member unity convinced Nelson Rockefeller, the then Governor of New York to sign a law granting collective bargaining rights to voluntary hospitals in New York City. (See “Political Battles of the ‘60s” page 22-23) Now nearly 60 years later, home care members have formed their own united force to ensure that tax money collected to protect the most vulnerable in society, actually does the job it was intended to do. Rallying, face-to-face lobbying 8
March/April 2022
of elected representatives and a significant investment in advertising to generate statewide pressure, all combined to make the Fair Pay for Home Care campaign a success. “I’m so thankful to hear that legislative leaders took up our cause and the Governor decided to support us,” said Salina Person, Home Health Aide, Rochester, NY, “We work really hard and care a whole lot. We just need to be able to support ourselves so that we can continue this work that is so important.”It is not just their own interests that members were fighting for – but also for the needs of their clients and for those who are not able to access help. As the 1199 Magazine goes to press, almost 17 per cent of home care jobs in NYS remain unfilled. With the high turnover of caregivers
that was mainly caused by low wages, researchers were estimating that by 2028 the state would have had a deficit of nearly one million home care positions. “Right now, there is a shortage of home care workers. Homecare workers are disappearing because they simply cannot afford to do the work. It's a financial challenge for us to pay rent, provide food for our family, and the multiple trains and bus fares just to get to work,” explains Iris Smith, a home care member who works at the Premier agency in Brooklyn. “Home care workers are frontline essential workers,” she adds, “We provide care that makes it possible for seniors and the disabled to maintain their independence, dignity, and respect in their homes in a safe environment where they can thrive.”
As the 1199 Magazine was going to press, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced that she would finally lift the pause on nursing home legislation that 1199SEIU members had fought long and hard to get signed into law last year. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed decades-old problems of staffing and quality in many nursing homes across the state, especially for-profit organizations. Spurred by the activism of 1199SEIU nursing home caregivers, advocates and family members, the State Legislature passed significant industry reform which was to go into effect on Jan. 1, but had been delayed for three months by the Governor’s Executive Order. Hochul’s change of heart came after the New York Attorney General, Letitia James, visited the 1199SEIU headquarters to hear first-hand accounts from nursing home members of how understaffing was affecting patient care. “They have revealed to me conditions in some of these nursing homes which are appalling,” James said. “They are working double and triple shifts. They indicated to me that some patients’ needs are not being met because they are under-resourced.”
One of the staffing measures that the Governor postponed following nursing home industry lobbying required homes to hire enough employees to provide patients with an average of three-anda-half hours of clinical care each day. Another required nursing homes to spend at least 40% of revenue on staff that provide direct patient care. Both of these laws finally went into effect on April 1. Julie Martinez, licensed practical nurse (LPN) at Dunkirk Rehab and Nursing Center in Western New York, explained why reform was needed: “We are a small 40-bed facility and one aide and one nurse for up to 40 residents makes it impossible to give residents the care they deserve. If I’m doing CPR, who is opening the door for the paramedics? And who is caring for the other residents? The most dedicated healthcare worker doesn’t want to work here, because you feel like you cannot give the care the residents need, and it feels terrible.” 1199SEIU nursing home members can check how close or far their institution is to complying with the new laws here: https://www. nursinghomestaffingaccountability.com/
1199 Celebrates International Women’s Day The Women’s Caucus at the union pulled together an evening zoom event on March 4 to honor the strength and courage of their sisters. The guest speaker was Maria Velazquez, a retired home care organizer whose son, Jon-Adrian, was released from prison last September after being wrongly incarcerated for almost 24 years. She described her decades-long campaign to prove his innocence, which involved working with Mothers United Against Wrongful Conviction, actor Martin Sheen and television journalists.
Maria Velazquez, retired 1199 home care organizer.
1199 Magazine
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