Home healthcare attendants recently picketed their union’s New York City headquarters over the practice of home care agencies assigning 24-hour shifts, but the union admitted it couldn’t help the women with their demands.
The union, 1199 SEIU, says only the New York state legislature has the power to change the workers’ schedules and that it could only happen if the state spent another $1 billion on Medicaid. The workers claim the union is colluding with their employers to keep them on the clock.
The attendants have drafted letters to 1199 SEIU President George Gresham and political leaders asking for help with the issue.
The picket and letter-writing effort was organized by the Ain’t I A Woman Campaign, which is a national outreach and educational campaign sponsored by the Chinese Staff & Workers’ Association and National Mobilization Against Sweatshops.
If you are working as a home healthcare attendant or a childcare provider and would like to learn more about your rights when it comes to unionization, we’re here to help.