LAKEPORT >> Maintaining Lake County has available funds to boost the earnings of In-Home Supportive Service workers the Service Employees International Local 2015 implored county leadership to do the right thing authorizing a pay raise during the public hearing of the BOS meeting Tuesday.
Local 2015 lead organizer/representative, Louisa Acosta, noted some of their members must work two or three jobs, and this is why their own children often go unattended. If the county would lift the minimum wage IHSS workers would definitely spend more time engaging their own children. “Livable wage is $20 an hour across the whole state,” Accosta said. “Some counties can survive on that, but others cannot. Here in Lake County, I’d say livable wage is $22 per hour, where parents would work only one job. Average wage for IHSS workers here is only $17.15 per hour- and that is a crime.”
Acosta went on to point out, Fast food workers at McDonald’s, Burger King and Taco Bell already earn $20 per hour. And, IHSS workers here have no health care benefits and no pension fund. “Our IHSS workers are the largest workforce of any employer, more than 2,200, except the county government. And our neighbor Mendocino, their IHSS workers earn $19.31 per hour. Some of our residents’ travel To Mendocino County to work. There is no reason why Lake County cannot match Mendocino. We know there is funding. Our bargaining team made proposals, but the Lake County bargaining team came back with just cents (on the table). The BOS knows what amounts they are able to allocate to these workers. We’re asking them to put their hands in their hearts and tap into Lake County’s funding.”
Everybody deserves to afford house payments, car payments and paying their monthly bills Acosta noted, “We began negotiations over six months ago, yet the county is giving us the runaround,” Acosta said. “They give us a proposal- offering, nothing. Our members are very stressed out, and our members deserve a livable wage.” She maintained the county has adequate funding in reserve to afford raising IHSS workers’ raise and that IHSS seeking a more livable wage would never drive the county into insolvency.
The IHSS raise was not included as a weekly agenda item so IHSS members had only three minutes each to speak before the board. Ceva Giuimelli began by stating she was 70 and she has to work part-time because she cannot afford to live on Social Security. “Now, at 70, most people retire with other professions, but not us,” she said. “Now I find it shameless when have to fight every time we come to a contract bargaining session. We have to show up in force every time we need a raise. You should know our wages are below what McDonald’s workers are getting.”
She further explained that she worked 189 billable hours recently. But she cannot even afford to pay into a retirement account and asked the board to consider negotiations. “Realize, things are getting expensive- gas goes up and down,” she explained. Most of us have to drive considerable distance to our clients. I’d like to retire like everybody else. I don’t want to do this job at 80. Every time we come up for negotiation, we come through the same route. It shouldn’t be that complicated. You know what a living wage is.”
Simone Tapman has been an IHSS/SEIU Local 2015 member since August 2017. “We’re just asking for recognition, respect, that we deserve because of the work we do- and how hard it is to make enough money to support your family,” she said. The Fast- Food industry is corporate and can afford to pay its employees anything they want.” She recalled they have gone to the state capitol to lobby for their interests. But Gov. Gavin Newsom has not had anything of substance to say about the IHSS workers. Yet she does praise Senate Pro Tem Mike McGuire (D-Healdsberg). “He’s very supportive, but he’s on his last term.”
Roseanne Dimenco is an IHSS worker who attended American River College, Sacramento. She has worked in sterile processing for surgical instruments and a has a certification for administrative assistant living boarding care. She noted SEIU Local 2015 has the largest union membership in California with over 500,000. And because the U.S. is an aging population there is an increasing need for care givers. If pending legislative proposal is authorized at the state level, there will be Assembly Bill 283.
Operating using a mix of federal, state, and local funds, the IHSS program helps to pay for services provided to an individual so that they can safely remain in their own home. To be eligible for IHSS services, a person must be 65 years of age and older, or disabled, among other criteria, and disabled children also are potentially eligible for IHSS services. The IHSS program is considered an alternative to out-of-home care, such as nursing homes or board and care facilities.
“That’s why we’re working on AB283, it would give IHSS workers across California, a statewide bargaining contract, with medical, retirement and a better wage than we we’re getting from the county,” said Dimenco. “So, with AB 283, we would no longer bargain at the county level but the state level. One statewide collective contract would be awesome. SEIU covers many other industries, it is not just medical. We would all be covered under that umbrella.”
AB 283 is considered a strong partisan bill, but was placed on the suspense file for the Appropriation Committee in the Senate last week.
