Grassroots organizers fighting to end the 24-hour workday for home attendants are unhappy with a settlement last month between New York’s healthcare union and 42 homecare agencies that amounts to “less than 0.5%” of the backpay workers are owed.
On Feb. 25, an arbitrator between the large union 1199SEIU and homecare agencies, including the Chinese-American Planning Council, announced a “historic” $30 million settlement covering roughly 120,000 workers who are owed stolen wages — amounting to a meager $250 per worker.
The agencies allegedly owe 24-hour workers — many of whom are immigrant women — unpaid wages for working more than the legal number of hours per shift.
