1199 SEIU NURSES RALLY IN THE BRONX FOR BETTER TREATMENT

On Friday, July 26, over 100 Home Care workers with 1199 SEIU, gathered with public officials for a speak-out and rally outside of Accent Care’s Bronx office. The group rallied to demand that the company’s executives treat their workers with respect by offering them paid sick days and affordable health insurance for themselves and their families. Public officials like Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, Assembly members Carl Heastie, Mark Gjonaj and city council members Annabel Palma and Andy King addressed the crowd about the importance of better treatment for home care workers.

Accent Care workers spoke about the difficulties they have been facing due to the company’s unwillingness to negotiate fairly. “We are going through hell because Accent Care won’t give us sick days and they won’t give us vacation days. We need to stand up for our rights in order to advance as caregivers.” Said Joyce Tetteh, a Home Health Aide with Accent Care.

Every day, home health aides with Accent Care work hard to provide compassionate care to the elderly and other vulnerable New Yorkers. Yet company executives refuse to treat them with compassion.

These caregivers voted to form their union three years ago, but they remain without a contract because the company refuses to negotiate fairly. Accent Care does not offer them paid sick days. When they call in sick, management pressures them to come into work. The health insurance the company offers is too expensive for many of these workers, leaving them and their families uninsured. Like all uninsured people, they are more likely than those with insurance to develop health conditions that could have been avoided: health conditions that could make it impossible for them to keep caring for the clients. By compromising the health of their workers, Accent Care could be compromising care for vulnerable New Yorkers.