SEIU home care workers in Washington State are celebrating an historic contract win that provides the first-ever retirement plan for any home care workers in the nation, raises their average wage to more than $14 a hour, and includes paid time off.
“This contract represents a victory for the state’s most vulnerable people, the citizens we provide care for,” said Sylvia Liang, a Seattle home care worker and SEIU Healthcare 775NW member leader. “We’re pleased that the state recognizes the importance of providing quality long term care and treating workers with dignity and respect.”
Following last week’s fast food strikes, the home care workers in Washington State are the latest example of people across the nation joining together to raise wages and raise up our communities, so we have an economy that works for everyone and a democracy where everyone has a voice.
The contract victory comes on the heels of SEIU Local 775NW’s successful coalition effort to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour in Seattle and at SeaTac. In fact, Local president David Rolf’s leadership on the “Minimum Wage Brigade” last week earned him the number 17 spot on the Politico 50, a list of people getting things done in an age of “gridlock and dysfunction.”
This blog originally appeared on the SEIU Blog on September 8, 2014. Reprinted with permission. http://www.seiu.org/2014/09/seiu-home-care-workers-win-14-an-hour-and-retireme.php.
