Reader’s view: Home-care workers deserve the right to organize

In Minnesota right now there are more than 10,000 people who provide direct support for seniors and people with disabilities in their homes. These home-care workers allow seniors to retire with dignity and stay in their homes; they allow people with disabilities to continue living independently.

I am one of these workers. Before I injured my knees last summer, I had eight clients and worked full time. One of my clients was my very own daughter, who is a vulnerable adult. By November, my knees required surgery, and I’m now unable to care for my clients, including my daughter. I have no worker’s compensation and no health insurance.

Home-care workers do real and valuable work in Minnesota, but often that work goes unnoticed. We work long hours for low wages, no benefits and no overtime; we often cannot even afford to take days off. We do the work because we are passionate about caring for others.

Soon there will be a shortage of home-care workers because of the low wages and working conditions.

We do not have the right to negotiate with the state for better working conditions and better pay — even though the state provides the money for home-care workers and sets the rates.

Teachers have the right to organize. Nurses have the right to organize. The work that home-care workers do isn’t any more important than the work of teachers or nurses; but it isn’t less important, either. Home-care workers should have the same right that teachers and nurses have: the right to form a union if they choose.

Felicia Boclair

Duluth

Tags: readers views, opinion, editorials, politics, minnesota, money, health