Governor Schwarzenegger has apparently given up on his effort to strip IHSS workers of their hard-won wage increases. His budget proposes to fully fund your wages and benefits up to $11.10 per hour.

This means your county supervisors can increase your wages and benefits to $11.10 per hour at absolutely no cost to them. You should be asking for this during your bargaining sessions.

Even better, this year it will be possible to negotiate health insurance rates to include more workers, reduce the amount workers have to pay, or expand benefits beyond their current level. This is because now you can split the wage and benefit part any way you want: put more on wages and less on benefits, or more on benefits and less on wages.

UDW championed the legislation that enables your wages and benefits to rise to this level. If California ’s economy continues to improve, funding will be available to $12.10 per hour for wages and benefits beginning July 1st, 2006.

Of course not all workers live in counties where their Board of Supervisors have fully utilized the available State and Federal funding.  Workers in California counties who are still without wage raises will benefit from his proposed increase in the minimum wage to $7.25 per hour as of October 1, 2006, increasing to $7.75 per hour on July 1, 2007 . Our brothers and sisters who get $6.75 per hour will get a 15% increase in their wage rates, even without the approval of county supervisors!

To see wages and benefits in other California counties represented by UDW, go to our County Pages

The Administration is projecting no further increase in the 2006-07 to the $12.10 per hour level. However, this decision is based on projections made later in the year and published during May Revise (on May 15 th). UDW’s review of the state’s finances suggests that the increase to $12.10 is likely.

Other News . . .

The Legislature is turning down the Governor’s proposal to delay SSI/SSP Colas. This year, SSI/SSP cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) are being postponed for a few months, and the Governor has proposed to postpone them even more. This time, the Legislature said, “No More.” Assembly speaker Fabian Nunez has said that this proposal is “dead on arrival.” Even better, the Senate Budget Committee quickly held an early budget meeting in January and rejected the proposal on a motion by Senator Denise Ducheny (D-San Diego).

"Quality Assurance" revisions coming at the end of 2006 will change the procedure for assessing IHSS hours. The Governor and Legislature established the Quality Assurance effort in the 2004-05 budget. UDW staff has been a key player in evaluating Administration proposals to improve IHSS assessments, reduce fraud and improve IHSS social worker training both at the state and county levels.

The new rules will establish new rules for hourly assessments and are likely to affect most IHSS consumers. Fortunately, the California Department of Social Services will be holding workshops to train social workers and others about these procedures. UDW staff as well as IHSS homecare workers and clients both may wish to attend the Phase II training, involving new assessment procedures. We will alert you when more information is available. Meanwhile, read our Urgent Issues Page for more information.

San Diego and Orange Counties are hoping to integrate long-term Care into some Managed Care Programs. Information on Orange County is not yet available, but San Diego information is available at the San Diego County website:
http://www.sdcounty.ca.gov/cnty/cntydepts/health/ais/ltc/index6.html, in particular the link “proposed recommendations” following the January 19, 2006 meeting. We will report more on this as time goes on.

Welcome to the New UDW! I'm Flora Walker, Administrator of the United Domestic Workers of America.

As you may know, UDW's National Union – the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) is now managing the day-to-day operations of UDW. This administratorship was necessary because UDW's former leaders mismanaged the union's finances. Former leaders have since resigned their positions

Click here to learn more about the administratorship.

During the administratorship, UDW members will receive the highest level of service when it comes to questions about the services your union provides.

If you have a specific question about health insurance, contract negotiations or any other topic, please call toll free at
1-800-621-5016 and we will put you in touch with the staff person who can best answer your questions.

This administratorship will not last a day longer than is necessary. Our one and only goal is to put UDW's financial house back in order. The New UDW will be stronger than ever so that we can win the better pay, benefits and training that California home care providers deserve.

Flora Walker
Administrator
UDW/AFSCME

Click here to read more about the
UDW Administratorship.

If you have questions about your health insurance, contract negotiations or other topics, please call toll free at:

1-800-621-5016