SEIU Home Care Providers from Across the State Available to Comment Following Governor's Speech to Joint Assembly

Sacramento, CA - In response to Governor Schwarzenegger's speech to the joint session of California legislatures this morning--SEIU Executive Vice President Eliseo Medina issued the following statement:

Governor Schwarzenegger offered the public a bad budget deal, and the public said no. Now the Governor wants to punish the people of California with senseless cuts that will cost the state billions down the road. It's this kind of failed leadership that has gotten us into this mess; more of the same short-sighted vision will not get us out.

"Governor Schwarzenegger's proposed cuts to home care would add up to 340,000 people to the ranks of the unemployed, moving California's unemployment rate to 12.8 percent--nearly tied with Michigan for the highest in the nation. This is exactly the opposite of what California needs.

"These irresponsible cuts will cost the state over a billion dollars a year in lost federal funds, and untold billions over the long term, as they push California's most vulnerable residents into expensive facilities.

"Worse still is the human toll. Approximately 395,000 elderly or disabled Californians would lose the services they need to live at home.

"We need shared responsibility to dig us out of this hole. Instead, this Governor has chosen a skewed approach--giving away $2.5 billion a year to large corporations and at the same time eliminating desperately needed care for the most vulnerable Californians.

"SEIU intends to fight the Governor's callous and immoral budget proposals and advance real solutions that enhance state and federal revenue and reduce the amount that must be cut from home care and other vital services Californians need."

SEIU home care providers from across the state are available to speak to media about the true cost of these cuts. Contact Mike Roth at (916) 444-7170 or Ali Jost at (202) 246-9327 to set up interviews.

Background on SEIU Efforts to Stop the Cuts:
SEIU has launched an aggressive state-wide campaign to stop the cuts made by the Fresno Board of Supervisors and the legislature from going into effect.

• SEIU UHW filed a class-action lawsuit - seeking a preliminary junction to stop the State of California and Fresno County from slashing the wages of home care workers.

• SEIU UHW held a 48 hour vigil in Sacramento - last week hundreds of home care workers from across the state descended on the state capitol to meet with assembly members a call for an end to the draconian cuts and call for shared responsibility and a smarter, long-term solution to the state's budget crisis.

• SEIU UHW television and print ad campaign -- featuring President Barack Obama and Alameda Country home care provider Pauline Beck, the statewide ad campaign calls for a federal solution to ends cuts that will devastate seniors, people with disabilities and the critical care providers they depend on to survive.

With 2 million members in Canada, the United States and Puerto Rico, SEIU is the fastest-growing union in the Americas--representing more than 240,000 homecare workers in the state of California. Focused on uniting workers in healthcare, public services and property services, SEIU members are winning better wages, healthcare and more secure jobs for our communities, while uniting their strength with their counterparts around the world to help ensure that workers--not just corporations and CEOs--benefit from today's global economy.

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