Home Care Workers, Labor, and Disability Activists Demand New York City Council Reject Intro. 303

District Council 37, Home Care Employees Local 389, disability advocates and labor allies rallied at City Hall Park Wednesday to urge the New York City Council to reject Intro. 303, legislation that would jeopardize workers’ jobs, benefits, and care for thousands of disabled New Yorkers if passed. 

The proposed bill aims to eliminate 24-hour shifts and institute two split shifts of 12 hours in an attempt to protect workers from wage exploitation. The measure, while well-intentioned, would conflict with Medicaid requirements and as written does not provide a funding solution. Home care services in New York City are regulated and paid for by the state. The majority of the 5,000 home care workers represented by DC 37 are women of color, specifically Black workers, who depend on Medicaid-funded shifts to support themselves and their families. Intro. 303 would also cause a disruption in care for approximately 13,000 severely disabled New Yorkers who rely on home health aides for assistance and their quality of life. Without Medicaid coverage for split 12-hour shifts, some patients could be forced into hospitals or nursing homes, losing the continuity and personal care provided by these workers.

“You don't know what it’s like to work as a home care worker, to see our clients who need our help for their basic needs— we do this work because we want to help them," said Margaret Glover, President of Home Care Employees Local 389 and a home care worker for last 46 years. "A lot of my members work 24-hour shifts and are worried about what losing those shifts will mean for their families and the clients they support. We do not want this bill.” Read more here.

District Council 37 and allies are calling on the New York City Council to vote NO on Intro. 303 to protect collective bargaining rights and the health and retirement benefits that unionized home care workers have fought so hard for. Fill out the form here to email Council Speaker Julie Menin and the City Council to tell them: Vote NO on Intro. 303.