NEWS&PRESS

Factfinder upholds Fresno County homecare contract negotiated by NUHW leaders, despite SEIU-UHW’s mishandling of arbitration

Fresno, Calif.—An independent factfinder ruled on Friday against Fresno County’s proposed cuts to homecare providers’ wages, upholding the union contract first negotiated in 2003 by the leaders of the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW), even after SEIU-UHW’s new trustees failed to properly enforce the contract in a previous arbitration in May. NUHW leaders negotiated Fresno homecare providers’ first contract as well as the current contract while they were the elected leaders of SEIU-UHW, before a hostile takeover by SEIU’s Washington, D.C. office in January of this year.

“It’s a relief that the arbitrator this time acknowledged that the contract we won protects our wages,” said Flo Furlow, a Fresno homecare provider and elected leader of NUHW. “After SEIU took over our union in January, they locked me and every other worker who negotiated the contract out of the arbitration, and instead sent in Rebecca Malberg, an outsider from the East Coast who had never bargained a contract and never even witnessed an arbitration.”

Elected officials join NUHW in supporting breakthrough wage protection proposal for Sacramento homecare providers

After weeks of grassroots advocacy by National Union of Healthcare Workers, IHSS Public Authority staff will recommend budget proposal to preserve 100% of current wages and benefits for homecare providers despite deep cuts from the Governor

SACRAMENTO—Supervisor Roger Dickinson joined Sacramento homecare providers and advocates today in announcing a breakthrough victory to protect homecare services in Sacramento County. At Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) Public Authority staff will recommend a budget package to preserve homecare providers’ wages at $10.40 per hour with all current health benefits.

The proposal is the result of weeks of grassroots advocacy by the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) to maintain and improve wages and benefits for homecare providers using federal stimulus funds, and the Board of Supervisors is expected to approve it in a vote on Tuesday. This comes on the heels of a victory last week by NUHW in San Francisco, where Mayor Gavin Newsom’s administration proposed a budget for 2009-10 that uses a costing model proposed by NUHW to maintain San Francisco County providers’ wages at $11.54 per hour.

Following NUHW victory in San Francisco, homecare providers call on Fresno County to follow suit and stop the cuts

S.F. Mayor adopted NUHW budget proposal to preserve 100% of current wages and benefits for homecare providers

Fresno, Calif.—Fresno homecare providers and advocates today called on the Board of Supervisors to follow the lead of San Francisco officials in adopting a proposal by the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) that will preserve 100 percent of homecare providers’ wages and all of their health benefits

On Monday, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom proposed a budget for 2009-10 that follows a costing model proposed by NUHW in May. The plan is expected to be approved by the San Francisco County Board of Supervisors and will maintain providers’ wages at $11.54 per hour.

“NUHW’s victory is great news for homecare workers and consumers in San Francisco, but it’s also great news for us here in Fresno,” said John Wilkins, a disability advocate in Fresno. “The workers and leaders of NUHW have stood with disability advocates for years to protect vital services, and with NUHW’s leadership, San Francisco officials are proving that we can stop cuts to vital homecare services without additional cost to the County. The Fresno Board of Supervisors should step up and do the same.”