Santa Barbara:

San Luis Obispo & Santa Barbara Participate in AFSCME Sponsored Educational Training

UDW Members from San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara County participated in an AFSCME Sponsored Battleground Informational Classroom Session.

Our members gained new skills and joined the fight to protect worker’s rights in California and across the country. Members had a chance to strategize over the upcoming November “Corporate Power Grab” ballot initiative, which would give the very wealthy and big corporations even more influence over our elections. It would take away union members’ right to pool their money to have a voice in politics.

Check out our ”Battleground Bulletins” news category to see how AFSCME is fighting for the rights of ALL workers at the national level.

Santa Barbara: UDW Member-Activists at Santa Maria County Strawberry Festival

UDW Santa Barbara chapter helps to kick off Jason Hodge’s campaign for
CA Senate at the Santa Maria Strawberry Festival.

Jason Hodge's campaign for CA Senate kicked off at Strawberry Festival in Santa Maria. Read the rest of this entry »

Santa Barbara Membership Meeting: UDW Members Unite to Support IHSS Reform

Member-activists share information and updates about activities in Santa Barbara at the April 19th Membership Meeting.

Guest speaker UDW Executive Director Doug Moore explained that state budget and other political influences on the IHSS program will require us to reform the program so it works for all of us. He urged members to support UDW’s “Let’s Get Healthy at Home” campaign.

UDW has endorsed the following Santa Barbara area candidates for office because of their support for IHSS providers and their clients. Spread the word!

Lois Capps for Congress
Jason Hodge for State Senate
Joyce Howerton for County Supervisor
Terri Zuniga for City Council

Check out more great photos of Santa Barbara members:

Or check out this album on Facebook and tag your friends!

Santa Barbara: “Santa Maria can’t afford more cuts”

Santa Maria Sun Commentary

BY YESENIA DECASAUS

We need legislators to focus on increasing state revenue instead of cutting vital social programs to compensate for the budget shortfall

Yesenia Decasuas. "We must restore programs that enable seniors and people who have disabilities to live independently."

For six years, I have represented thousands of homecare workers. I am a Santa Maria resident and the Central California Coordinator for UDW: local 3930 of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which represents about 900 homecare workers in Santa Maria who serve elderly and disabled clients through the In-Home Support Services Program.

My own father, a seriously disabled war veteran, would have been unavoidably institutionalized had my family not been able to hire homecare workers, who tirelessly helped my mother while my brother and I were in school. Every day, I encounter similar situations: frail and disabled people who would have no choice but being moved to a nursing facility if in-home care were not available, many of whom have no family at all to help them, who are completely dependent upon the program for their meals and laundry. Those who do have family to help them realize their loved ones would be forced to quit jobs or else commit them to nursing homes if the program were absent. Read the rest of this entry »

Santa Barbara Tuesday Dec. 13th; UDW Town Hall Meeting and Panel Discussion on Potential Cuts to IHSS

In-Home Support Services to Hold Public Forum

Santa Barbara Independent, Saturday December 10 2011
By Jake Blair

State Program Faces Crippling Cuts

This Tuesday, December 13, the United Domestic Workers of America will hold a town hall meeting in response to the possibility of budget cuts to many state programs. Of the programs on the metaphorical chopping block, the one raising the most concern is In-Home Support Services (IHSS).

“Trigger” cuts — which will slash the IHSS budget by 20 percent — come on the heels of a mandatory 3.6 percent reduction in hours implemented in February 2011 for the care providers who are paid an average of $10.10 an hour statewide (and $10 in Santa Barbara). These two factors essentially equate to roughly a 24 percent reduction in income for the IHSS care providers in spite of a negotiation earlier between the County of Santa Barbara and UDW this June that prevented their wages being reduced by $1/hr. Read the rest of this entry »

Santa Barbara Political Candidate Forum

UDW held an AFSCME sponsored Political Candidate Forum November 14th, 2011 in Goleta, CA Among the candates were:

Das Williams, running for State Assembly, 37th District
Hannah-Beth Jackson, running for State Senate 19th District
Bill Monning, running for State Senate 33rd District
Jason Hodge, running for State Senate District 19

See more photos

Santa Barbara County Ratifies New Contract for Independent Providers

Santa Barbara workers have had a very tough political climate for negotiating with the County Board of Supervisors.

Nevertheless IHSS Providers formed a strong Bargaining Committee and together with rank and file member providers, UDW lead negotiator and organizers in Santa Barbara have won an extension to the IHSS Independent Provider contract. The proposed contract was ratified with 98% voting YES!

Congratulations to Santa Barbara Providers and thanks to all for your hard work.

Santa Barbara: Fate of Addus contract will be decided during hearings this week

Photo credit: Santa Maria Times
Dawn Welch lives alone.She is 76, has multiple sclerosis and spends most of her time in a wheelchair.
The pictures that fill her apartment on West Boone Street in Santa Maria attest to a full life — a shot of a young man in a military uniform sits in a special spot by itself. But because of her debilitating disease, Welch struggles to tell their stories. Read Story, Santa Maria Times

UDW holds town-hall meeting to stand up against wage cuts
and Fate of Addus contract
Santa Maria, CA – Elks Club. June 11, 2011

Click photos to see more

Santa Barbara: Home-Care Providers Face County Supervisors to Protest Salary Cut

Santa Barbara NOOSHAWK June 7, 2011

Santa Barbara County seeks approval from the state to reduce by $1 the hourly wage for caretakers of low-income and disabled patients

By Daniel Langhorne, Noozhawk Intern | @NoozhawkNews Read the rest of this entry »

Santa Barbara: In-Home Care Workers Protest Proposed Wage Cut

KEYT news, June 8, 2011

Santa Barbara – Dozens of in-home support service workers took to the streets of Santa Barbara Tuesday to protest a proposed wage cut.

The health care workers make it possible for low income seniors and disabled to live at home.

Currently, the workers make $10 per hour. The county wants to drop their pay to $9 per hour.

The workers say even their current wage makes it tough to make ends meet. Many of them have second jobs in order to put a roof over their head.

Read the rest of this entry »

Santa Barbara demonstrators stand in solidarity with Wisconsin

Demonstrators Rally Against Proposed Cuts to UC System

Watch Video keyt news

Worried about the possibility of losing pay, benefits and their jobs, UC Santa Barbara faculty and staff were joined by students in a stand against cuts rally.

They rallied Monday afternoon at Storke Plaza.

Many of the speakers equated the rally as a stand of solidarity with those in Wisconsin who may lose most, if not all of their union bargaining rights.

Santa Barbara Mayor Helene Schneider attended the event and said front line workers are very important to a solid city, and it also applies to the University system.

She supports efforts to make sure these workers have a fair wage with benefits.

The University of California system is facing up to $500 million in proposed cuts

Santa Barbara County Held a Membership & Holiday Party Dec. 16th

It was a successful Holiday Party & Membership Meeting- With over 100 attendees…

Welcome Yesenia Decasaus, new UDW Regional Coordinator for Kern, Santa Barbara and SLO

Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Kern Counties now have a new Regional Coordinator — Yesenia Decasaus. Read the rest of this entry »

Santa Barbara elects new UDW Officers

The UDW Elcctions Committee has certified the election results for two Chapter Executive Board positions for Santa Barbara County IP Chapter. Congratulations go out to Lidia Perez, and Beatriz Zamora for winning these seats, and the opportunity to represent UDW members in Santa Barbara! Read the rest of this entry »

UDW Protects Provider Wages in Santa Barbara

With strong member support, UDW has been able to protect the wages of Santa Barbara County homecare providers at the current level of $10 per hour. UDW members voted overwhelmingly in May to ratify a one-year contract extension that will maintain the $10 wage level; the County Board of Supervisors approved the contract on June 11.

Read the rest of this entry »

Santa Barbara Consumer Speaks Out

Disabled Poor, Speaking; Struggling to Avoid Nursing Home
Published in Santa Barbara Independent May 20, 2010
As an In Home Supportive Services to remain in their own homes requires either semiskilled or skilled personal assistance. On the open job market, most semiskilled attendants, i.e., certified nurse’s aides (CNAs), commonly command an hourly wage that can range from $11 to $20 per hour; and skilled attendants, i.e., LVNs and RNs, can command anywhere from $20 to $45-plus per hour, making them much too expensive for IHSS recipients to hire.