This week, a great thing happened at the Board of Supervisors meeting.
Supervisor Anthony Farrington made a motion to give In-Home Supportive Services workers a much-needed and absolutely deserved raise of $2 and hour. The rest of the board wholeheartedly supported the motion. IHSS workers in the audience cheered.
And the union said “No.”
No?
The reason is that the board wanted the raise only to go to those IHSS workers willing to submit to a background check, which would qualify them for listing in an IHSS registry. The union wants ALL workers to get the raise, even those who ? no doubt for nefarious reasons ? don”t want the county or their clients to know about their background, including any past (or present) criminal activity.
Here”s the reality check: The union should be taking care of its best, most reputable workers. IHSS workers too often get a bad rap because of the criminal element that tries to move amongst them. The registry is an effort to separate the wheat from the chaff, and give the county”s disabled and elderly a greater sense of security in who they have helping them in their homes.
In it”s unbending stance, the union has sent the message to its members that being upstanding and ethical aren”t required for membership, that the person who is really devoted to caring for others is no more important than the person who steals an elderly person”s belongings when no one is looking.
Why would the union cover for such people?
The union is also saying, in not so many words, that IHSS clients aren”t entitled to security and safety in their own homes.
We”re shocked at this. And outraged.
To those IHSS workers striving to offer excellent, ethical care, you have our gratitude. We also offer you this advice ? remind your union representatives that you”re the ones they should be representing. It”s up to you to weed out the ranks of those who have given your profession a bad rap. If you need to get a new union, fine. But don”t sit still for such a ridiculous, insulting decision.
We applaud the Board of Supervisors for its generous offer.
Further, we urge board members to stick to their guns. Don”t back down on the background check. Anyone receiving taxpayer money for caring for the elderly and disabled should be required to have background checks, fingerprinting and more for the simple fact that society”s most vulnerable members must be protected.
If the union doesn”t agree to the background check stipulation, then the board shouldn”t go through with the raise, period. And then IHSS workers should get a new union, and get the raise they deserve.
The Lake County Publishing Editorial Board includes Publisher Gregg McConnell, Editor Elizabeth Larson, News Editor David Stoneberg and Sports Editor Brian Sumpter.
