Contra Costa County IHSS workers tell Board of Supervisors to stop 'Scrooging' homecare workers...Workers and supporters hold morning rally demanding fair wages and benefits

MARTINEZ, Calif., Dec. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- In Home Supportive Service (IHSS) workers, clients, and community allies held a rally and picketed in front of the Contra Costa County Administration Building today, wearing T-shirts and carrying picket signs proclaiming, "We're Being Scrooged!"

 The slogan is a reference to Ebenezer Scrooge, the main character in Charles Dickens' classic 'A Christmas Carol,' who's notorious for his stinginess and lack of compassion.

IHSS workers, who have been in contract negotiations with Contra Costa County for four months, are demanding that the Board of Supervisors end their miserly ways and bring wages to the current standard of pay received by providers in surrounding counties.

Members of the California Nurses Association, who are also in contract talks with the County, joined them on the line. Immediately following the rally, workers and supporters testified in front of the Board of Supervisors, telling them that Contra Costa County should follow the lead of other Bay Area counties and provide fair wages and benefits to homecare workers.

The approximately 5,000 Contra Costa County IHSS workers currently earn $9.50 per hour and have not received a raise or cost of living adjustment in the last three years. Meanwhile, the cost of housing and other basic necessities continue to skyrocket.

In the recent statewide budget campaign, IHSS workers won a one-dollar increase from the State to go toward IHSS wages. The Contra Costa workers can only get access to these funds if the County agrees to provide just 17.5 cents of that dollar.

Their 17.5% share of a one-dollar wage increase would infuse over $5 million per year in state and federal matching funds into the local economy.

Surrounding counties, including Marin, Sonoma, San Francisco, Napa and Solano have all agreed to raise IHSS worker's salaries to $10.50 per hour. Bargaining has been ongoing for four months, and the money is in the budget and available now, yet the County continues to stall.

Homecare workers allow the most vulnerable in our community, including seniors and people with disabilities, to live safely, comfortably and with dignity in their own homes. Additionally, it is a much more cost-effective alternative to institutions such as nursing homes. Care for people forced to go into nursing homes can cost taxpayers up to five times more than in-home care. "The IHSS program allows people to be cared for in their homes, instead of being taken away and placed in an expensive nursing facility. A wage increase will allow us to perform this labor of love and not have to find another job that pays more money just so we can make ends meet," says IHSS provider Loretta Kent. "After all, if we can't take care of ourselves, how can we continue to take care of others?"

"The Bay Area is one of the most expensive places to live in the nation," states Susan Prather, member of the seniors advocacy group the Gray Panthers, "and whenever we have an opportunity to give these wonderful workers a modest raise we should because they deserve it -- for the important service they provide to the community."

SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West, with more than 140,000 members, is the largest and most powerful healthcare union in the Western U.S. We represent every type of healthcare worker, including nursing, professional, technical and service classifications. Our mission is to achieve high quality healthcare for all.