More than 100 caregivers and nonprofit workers rallied outside City Hall today to call for a raise in the minimum wage for city contractors to $25 an hour, a proposal that has won unanimous support from the Board of Supervisors.
“Those who serve and protect members of our community can barely, barely take care of themselves and their family. And I say that is unacceptable,” said Kim Evon, executive vice president of the Service Employees International Union Local 2015, which represents more than 24,700 caregivers in San Francisco.
Caregivers and nonprofit workers in San Francisco appear to have entered a vicious cycle of low wages, understaffing and burnout, said Evon. On average, a San Francisco home-care worker earns about $1,700 a month, she said.
That crisis could be eased by raising the minimum hourly wage under the Minimum Compensation Ordinance, which sets wage rates for as many as 50,000 San Francisco contractors, according to Santiago Lerma, legislative aide to Supervisor Hillary Ronen. Currently, the minimum wage for nonprofit workers is $17.90 per hour.
Caregivers in San Francisco are contracted through California’s In-Home Supportive Services program, which pays for home care for those who qualify — usually those who are over 65, disabled, or blind.
The amendment pushed by the unions does not yet have a set timeline, although all members of Board of Supervisors voiced their support in one way or another today: Seven showed up to the rally, three texted union leaders saying they would vote in support, and Board President Aaron Peskin said in a text message to Mission Local that he was “supportive and working to resolve it.”
‘We cannot survive without $25!‘
Workers filled the steps outside City Hall for a rally ahead of the Board of Supervisors’ weekly meeting Tuesday, chanting “If we don’t get it, shut it down!” and “We cannot survive without $25!”
The rally was organized by a coalition of unions and nonprofits, including the San Francisco Labor Council, SEIU 1021, SEIU 2015, Teamsters Local Union 865, and Jobs With Justice.
The “poverty wages” earned by caregivers “means that, even though we’re working full-time, we have to do three or four jobs just to keep up with expenses in the city,” said Delmy Campos, an In-Home Supportive Services worker and a member of SEIU 2015.
“Caregiving is fundamental to take care of the elderly and other patients, before a patient goes to a nurse or to a service provider like a doctor,” said Campos.
Many of her colleagues have been displaced from San Francisco, Campos said. Caregivers sometimes spend hours a day commuting — sometimes two hours each way — when they are already working overtime, according to Kristin Hardy, SEIU 1021’s San Francisco vice president.
“You deserve not only to have a living wage, but to actually live in San Francisco, if you work here,” said District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston at the rally.
Caregiving crisis
San Francisco is in the midst of a staffing crisis among caregivers, with more than 2.8 million caregiving hours to San Franciscans going unmet, according to Evon.
“Those are folks who, if they are not getting their care in their home, they are going to be in a nursing home, creating so much more in the way of costs,” said District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman. On average, home care costs one-quarter of the price of institutional care, according to Evon.
If the Minimum Compensation Ordinance does get amended, workers of San Francisco’s 70 human services nonprofits will also share in the benefits. “Nonprofit workers are expected to be invigorated to work on passion alone. But as we know, passion does not pay the bills,” said Ellie Gomez, an emergency relief rental worker for Catholic Charities San Francisco. She’s also one of 1,500 workers in nonprofits contracted by San Francisco that SEIU 1021 represents.
As a result, nonprofits like Catholic Charities suffer from high turnover rates. “Many folks are doing the jobs of two or three people, and nonprofits are not meeting the goals of their contracts, and this destabilizes organizations,” said Gomez, whose work includes sitting down with people who are facing eviction, calling their eviction lawyers and negotiating with landlords.
“These days, it seems to kind of be in fashion to attack nonprofit workers. It kind of seems to be in fashion to attack city workers,” said Preston. And the attacks, Preston claimed, tend to come from “billionaires who are complaining about the people doing the hard work.”
Supervisor Connie Chan, the chair of the Budget and Finance Committee and District 1 supervisor, also expressed support today. “You have the quorum of the Budget and Finance Committee. You have the quorum of the Budget and Appropriations Committee. And you definitely have the quorum of the entire Board of Supervisors,” she said.
Despite the supervisors’ support, caregivers and nonprofit workers will have to wait until the end of the fiscal year, June 30, for a new contract. “We’re committed to work collegially with the mayor and her administration,” Chan said. “Let’s make sure we carry this to the finish line, so all workers have a fair contract at the end of this budget season.”
I so much agree I’m one of the providers of home care worker who work for the state and get paid under $20 an hour in SF. I have compassion for senior, disabled people and yes sometimes people who are severely can’t take care of themselves this is very hard work. To live in SF and the cost of living is very expensive we providers do the work some people can’t even do, yes I am in agreement of a raise in this field of home care if I can be any assistance with this fight I’m aboard.