SEIU Members Defeat Governor Schwarzenegger's Attempt to Cut Homecare Wages

Victory in 9th Circuit Court Protects CA’s Seniors & People With Disabilities
Governor’s IHSS Wage Cuts: Rejected

(SACRAMENTO, CA - March 3, 2010)– In securing another legal victory to prevent cuts to in-home caregivers’ wages, SEIU California today won big for frail seniors and people with disabilities who rely on homecare to live at home instead of in more expensive institutions.

“This ruling by the Court is a great victory for all Californians,” said Laphonza Butler, President-Elect of SEIU-ULTCW, United Long-Term Care Workers. “It sends a clear message to the Governor that he can’t balance the state’s budget on the backs of thousands of hardworking in-home caregivers.”

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals today affirmed a lower court’s preliminary injunction, which stopped Governor Schwarzenegger’s In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) wage cuts. The cuts would put seniors and people with disabilities at risk of losing cost-effective home care services, such as assistance with cooking, cleaning, and bathing, that they rely on to live independently.

“Home care means Sherry, my client, can continue to live independently and safely in the home she knows, near the people who care about her. The alternative would, unfortunately, be institutionalization,” said Mary Harms, a Contra Costa home care provider and a steward with SEIU-UHW, whose client Sherry, suffers from cerebral palsy and severe mental retardation. “I also take care of my granddaughter and have a responsibility to provide for her. A cut in wages, would threaten my ability to care for Alexis and force me to look at other alternatives. This is a good decision for a cost effective program that protects the most vulnerable in our communities.”

The 9th Circuit agreed with caregivers that slashing the state’s maximum contribution caregivers’ wages from $11.50 to $9.50 per hour would cause “irreparable harm” and that it violated the Medicaid Act because the State ignored the impact the cut would have on IHSS recipients’ access to and quality of home care services.

The court ruling affirmed that, contrary to the State’s arguments:

• Wages paid to in-home caregivers are directly related to the ability of seniors and people with disabilities to access reliable, quality homecare
• The access of frail elderly and disabled Californians to homecare is more important than the state’s interest in balancing its budget
• Evidence suggested that the cuts at issue here would have cost taxpayers more money in the long run than they would have saved
• The State did not do its homework to understand the impact of the cuts to critical homecare services, as the law requires

“It is good to know that compassion and sound judgment sometimes do trump politics,” said Ellen Rollins, an in-home caregiver in Santa Clara County and a Vice President for Home Care for SEIU Local 521. “The court decision today affirms the value of home care services; I hope our governor and those who would do away with our home care program, which saves lives and the state money, pay close attention.”

Three SEIU California local unions representing home care workers were plaintiffs in the lawsuit: SEIU UHW-United Healthcare Workers West; SEIU Local 521, and SEIU-ULTCW, United Long-Term Care Workers.