Connecticut home care workers gathered at the state Capitol to demand Governor Lamont allocate funding for livable wages and basic benefits such as health insurance and paid sick days. These care workers have united in SEIU 1199 New England.
“When will the work traditionally done by women of color like me be seen as just as essential as any other public responder?” said home care worker Dilliner Jordan. “I love this work, but we’re like a dog chasing our tail; we’re not living, we’re just existing. Governor Lamont, would you walk a day in my shoes, a homecare worker who’s homeless and without health insurance?
SEIU 1199NE members are featured on billboards across Hartford. The billboards say, “I Care For Your Loved Ones But I Can’t Afford Three Meals A Day.”
Home care workers invited Gov. Lamont to join them on the job for a day to see how rewarding and challenging their work is and the sacrifices they must make to survive on low wages.
“I’m doing three people’s jobs, but I’m making less than minimum wage. If things don’t get better, I will have to leave and find another job,” said Isaac Kolonziaa, a personal care assistant from South Windsor. “Is this the American Dream, many of us came to this country in search of? Governor Lamont, would you walk a day in my shoes by leaving your home and immigrating to another country to end up drowning in medical debt in search of the American Dream?”
Read more in the CT Post, NBC Connecticut, and WTNH.
Learn more in 1199NE’s press release.
Watch and share 1199NE’s video of the action.
