SEIU ULTCW and Members of Community Hold Vigil on Potential Cuts to IHSS By County

Date: Friday, June 17, 2011

Contact: Kerry Townsend Jacob, 310-806-0893

SEIU United Long Term Care Workers (ULTCW) and Members of Community Hold Vigil on Potential Wage Cuts to Santa Cruz County Home Care Providers

Group Also Opposed to Unnecessary Deportation Caused by “Secure Communities” Program

Watsonville, CA – On Friday, SEIU United Long Term Care Workers (ULTCW) hosted a community vigil to protest potential wage cuts to In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) home care providers by the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors in Watsonville. The Board of Supervisors is considering reducing the wages for home care workers who participate in the IHSS program from $11.50 to $10.35.

Santa Cruz County is the only county in the state to propose cuts to the IHSS program.

“These cuts would be devastating to home care workers, who already make wages that are barely above minimum wage. Every day we do important work, taking care of our community’s most vulnerable, including seniors, the disabled and the blind, and deserve to earn a living wage. Without that, many of us may not be able to continue performing these lifeline services,” said Susana Hernandez, Executive Board member, SEIU ULTCW.

The participants also called on California to stop supporting the federal “Secure Communities” Program. The program, meant to provide fingerprints to the Federal Government to help fight crimes, instead too often results in the deportation of illegal immigrants.

“This program needs to be stopped. It has caused many thousands of immigrants to be deported from our country, forcing them to leave their families and, in some cases, the only lives they have ever known. The program should either be fixed or shelved for good,” said Ana Ceja, SEIU ULTCW member.

SEIU United Long Term Care Workers (ULTCW) is California’s leading long term care organization dedicated to providing and protecting quality care for some of our most vulnerable residents. SEIU ULTCW represents 180,000 in-home care providers and nursing home workers throughout California, making it the largest union of long term caregivers in California and the second largest SEIU Local in the nation.
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