The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors today will consider a proposal to boost the wages of more than 140,000 home health-care workers.
Supervisors Mark Ridley-Thomas and Hilda Solis will ask the board to approve a motion instructing county administrators to allocate $11.9 million in the 2015-16 Department of Public Social Services budget to raise wages of home health-care workers from their existing $9.65-an-hour salaries to $11 effective Jan. 1, 2016.
The proposal calls for the salaries of the In-Home Supportive Service workers to increase to $11.18 on Feb. 1, 2017.
“IHSS providers care for and support the county’s most vulnerable residents so that they can remain safe and independent in their homes and communities, thereby avoiding higher-cost institutional settings,” according to the motion. “Despite the critical services these low-wage workers perform for the county, they are among the lowest-paid workers among the low-wage workforce, earning a ‘poverty wage’ of $9.65 an hour, excluding health benefits, or $20,072 per year.
“At this wage level, many home care workers are forced to rely on public assistance programs to make ends meet.”
Home care workers have been pushing the county to boost their salaries to $15 an hour. Earlier this month, dozens of the workers — represented by the Service Employees International Union-United Long-Term Care Workers — rallied at a Board of Supervisors meeting to state their case.
Workers told the board about the work they do caring for the elderly and disabled, some of whom are members of their own families, and how hard it is to make ends meet on $9.65 an hour.
“Nursing shoes cost two days pay,” said one woman who told the board she works 60 hours a week but still can’t afford new shoes or an eye exam.
Paid through a state program, the home care workers would not benefit from an increase in the city or county’s minimum wage.
Union research shows that 81 percent of the in-home care providers live in poverty, 33 percent rely on public assistance and 18 percent depend on food stamps to feed their families.
A study released by union leaders concluded that a raise to $15 an hour would generate $768 million in local economic activity and support the creation of 6,000 new full-time jobs.
Workers are expected to rally again at today’s meeting.
“When passed, this motion will represent a great victory for L.A. County caregivers who provide vital care to our most vulnerable residents,” said Laphonza Butler, president of SEIU-ULTCW. “This increase marks an important step in lifting caregivers out of poverty, and brings us that much closer in our ‘Fight for $15.”‘
