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Politics & Government

Shaking Fists and Bedpans, Santa Cruz County Proposes $1.15 Pay Cut to In-Home Care Workers

A mediator will arrive Thursday to see if the sides can be brought together.

Passing cars and light acoustic music streaming from the Watsonville Farmer’s Market usually generate the only noise at the corner of Main and Beach St on Fridays. Not June 17.

In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) home care providers lined the corner with noisemakers, ranging from cowbells to bedpans. Nearly three-dozen demonstrators, both care workers and their supporters, held a vigil at 4 p.m. in protest of the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors’ proposal to cut their wages from $11.50 to $10.35.

 “I care for three people,” said Cindy Valdez, care provider and vigil attendee. “I care for my mother, who has arthritis, osteoporosis and diabetes. I care for a gentleman who has Alzheimer’s, and I care for my significant other who has Multiple Sclerosis. Cutting my wages would really hurt three people – not just myself. I would have to find another income altogether.”

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 Having been in negotiations with the county since January, the decision on wages would affect some 1,400 care providers.

 A state mediator will arrive on Thursday to assist both parties in reaching a compromise.

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 “The board recognizes the value of home care workers,” First District Supervisor John Leopold said. “They keep people living independently. We have done our best to protect home health workers from cuts, but everything has to be on the table.”

 With a $1.6 million deficit left to balance and because soon-to-expire federal stimulus funds largely funded these salaries, the reduction is likely. This cut would also decrease state contributions to the in-home care program, since California’s compensation is proportional to what the county pays.

 John McCaully, a visually impaired Live Oak resident with a low income, has been with his caregiver for nearly 15 years. He said he fears losing her after the negotiations, especially given a recent accident down the steps of Cabrillo College.

 “We’ve always been picked on, all the time,” McCaully said. “It’s more priority. They have to stop cutting from the disabled and the poor, and they have to start cutting from the top.”

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