Sequoias caregivers take action for dignity and respect this holiday season

NewsDecember 10, 2010

This holiday season, the caregivers at The Sequoias Portola Valley shared a special message with the patients and families served by their facility. Dressed in festive holiday hats, the caregivers distributed greeting cards and shared their efforts to win dignity and respect in the form of a fair and just contract.

From the greeting card:

This is the time of year when it’s more important than ever that those we love receive the care and attention that they deserve. Thank you for entrusting us to provide care to your loved ones…

You may not be aware that the top administrator at The Sequoias is paid $450,000 a year. That’s eighteen times our average salary as direct caregivers.

Yet in spite of the large salaries paid to the executives who run The Sequoias, management is proposing to freeze our wages for yet another year, even though we haven’t seen a wage increase in nearly 20 months. On top of that, they’re trying to force us to pay even more for our health insurance.

The Sequoias has raised the rates your family pays for care, but the extra money you’re forced to part with only goes to the outsized salaries of the company’s executives – not to the livelihoods of the people who feed, bathe and look after the people you love.