Local agency picketed

Home health care workers picketed the Better Home Health Care Agency at 53 N. Park Ave. on the afternoon of Sept. 17, calling for a wage increase and access to affordable health insurance. Members of the 1199 SEIU union, which represents the workers, say that the agency has refused to settle a fair contract guaranteeing improvements for its 300 home care workers, despite nearly three years of contract negotiations. Many of the workers, said an email from union organizers, make just minimum wage — $7.25 an hour or $15,080 a year — for full time work and only 11 percent of them are covered by the company’s health insurance plan.

  “We work hard every day, taking care of elderly clients and helping them to live independently in their homes,” said bargaining committee member Orfalinda Ramirez. “But Better Home is showing us no respect. We are still struggling to put food on the table for our children, and we can’t afford to go to the doctor when we are sick. We deserve better than this.”

But Greg Schaefer, the agency's director of financial services said, "In truth we're very close to making a deal. We’ve agreed on all issues, including wage increases. What we have not come to an agreement on are issues with health insurance. We have always valued our employees and did agree to increase our contribution towards their insurance an additional 50 percent, which the union turned down.

'We also agreed to implement raises while we worked on the health insurance issue and the union turned us down," he said, adding, "we have every confidence we can get this resolved shortly.”