Home Care Workers Urge White House to Deliver on Promise of Basic Labor Protections

WASHINGTON, Dec. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- One year ago, President Obama announced a proposed rule that would guarantee home care workers the right to minimum wage and overtime protections under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). "The defining issue of our time is whether we can build an economy where hard work pays off and responsibility is rewarded," he said. "It's whether this is going to be a country where working people can earn enough to raise a family and build a modest savings, own a home, secure their own retirement, look after their kids."

"These men and women, they work their tails off. They don't complain. They deserve to be treated fairly. They deserve to be paid fairly, for a service many older Americans couldn't live without. Companies that do pay fairly for these workers shouldn't be put at a disadvantage."

Home care worker and Direct Care Alliance (DCA) Board Chair Tracy Dudzinski stood on stage behind the President as he spoke that day. "Listening to President Obama speak was an amazing feeling," she says. "Here was the president of the United States, speaking in strong, no-nonsense language about how this was the right and fair thing to do and how he's determined to make the rule change happen."

But despite over 20,000 supportive comments during the public comment period, the rule has not yet been finalized. Dudzinski and her colleagues who stood with the President are tired of waiting and submitted a letter urging him to act now. "Home care is the fastest growing workforce in the country," she says. "But if we continue to exclude home care workers from basic labor protections, how can we expect people to commit to this field as a career?"

"Now is the time for President Obama to deliver on the promise he made one year ago to make sure all of us home care workers have a right to minimum wage and overtime pay. It's a matter of justice. It's a matter of respect."

The Direct Care Alliance is the national advocacy voice of direct care workers in long-term care. DCA empowers workers to speak out for better wages, benefits and training, so more people can commit to direct care as a career.

Contact: Jessica Brill Ortiz
(202) 236-4593 | [email protected]

SOURCE Direct Care Alliance