Open Letter to UDW Members Regarding your Union Dues:

by Kristine Loomis,
IHSS Client, Riverside County

As a client of IHSS I am really concerned about my home care worker getting exhausted or sick. When your very life depends on someone else's care, you want them to be healthy and to have good enough circumstances so that they will be able to continue doing the work they do.

That is why I am writing to all of you - other providers - personally. I know there are many of you who are so busy surviving, that you don't have time to get involved in anything else. But I was actually looking for some way I could help my home care worker to endure the stresses of the job, so we both joined the UDW bargaining committee. I was there while we bargained with the county for almost a year to get raises and healthcare benefits for workers in Riverside. I know for a fact we would never have gotten the raises and healthcare coverage without the union - because the county fought us every step of the way. But in the end they agreed to raises from $7.11 to $8.50, and first time medical coverage. Due to continued union representation we are now at $8.75 and wages will go to $9.00 on July 1st 2006. 

Before we got raises and benefits, I was literally scared my care provider was going to collapse under the load. Now I know he can visit a doctor if he needs to. And the raise has made it possible to occasionally get him time off for a couple of hours by hiring someone else - which you know is absolutely crucial when you're on call 24/7. These union improvements have made a life and death difference for my provider and me.

Some of you may wonder if the union is just another organization that wants a piece of your life. Some of you may not have raises or medical coverage yet. My county was among one of the first to get representation, so I want to let you know that it worked, and that it is worth much more to us than what we pay in dues. As a solitary voice I can write all the letters I want to the politicians, try to protest my hours getting cut, or ask for a raise for my provider. But it isn't the same - a solitary voice can (and does!) get ignored. When we are represented by UDW, the policy-makers listen to us because they know that the union represents thousands of people who vote - and that is who pays their salary - the voters, and taxpayers. I wanted you to hear this from someone who lives with the same struggles you do - day by day survival - and has been fortunate enough to witness first hand, what happens when we get representation. Our lives get better. This union is worth supporting.

I deeply and sincerely thank you for your time and your consideration in reading this. I know how valuable and scarce time is for care providers - how little of it you get for yourselves - and how hard you work. Thank you on behalf of all clients.