Rep. Linda T. Sánchez (D-CA)

“I worked for 20 years taking care of people — making sure they had a warm bath or a hot meal — so they could have a decent life at home. Isn’t that work important? By the wages, you wouldn’t think we do an important job, but home care workers help people stay at home, close to their families. In some cases, we are their family.”

— Evelyn Coke, a home care worker who passed away a year ago, on July 9, 2009.

In honor of Evelyn Coke, who she calls “an American heroine,” Rep. Linda T. Sánchez is introducing legislation to extend labor protections to home care workers, expanding minimum wage and overtime rules which currently apply to the rest of the nation’s workforce under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Rep. Sánchez writes about the need to eliminate this discrepancy once and for all in a guest post on the American Rights at Work blog:

The fact that she died a champion for humanity is not surprising; those who knew Ms. Coke witnessed her strength and compassion for the men and women she cared for. As a home care worker, Ms. Coke struggled for more than 20 years to make ends meet, often working 70 hours a week for a mere seven dollars an hour. Despite her dedication, she was denied full compensation, including time-and-a-half for overtime.

Ms. Coke was among the more than two million workers, including many new Americans like her, who assist elders and people living with disabilities with activities of daily living such as getting in and out of bed, dressing and undressing, cooking and eating, toileting and bathing. Without people like Ms. Coke, many of our family members and friends would be unable to enjoy the autonomy and quality of life that we all hold dear.

Sadly, this essential workforce is excluded from the basic protections of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Low pay and poor working conditions have hindered recruitment and retention which, in turn, negatively affect the quality of care that millions of Americans receive. Ms. Coke saw that in order to protect her family and the people she cared for, she had to stand up for change.

Read the full post.

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that home care workers don’t have a right to fair treatment. Home care workers – you know, the folks who do back-breaking work – the cooking, cleaning, bathing and lifting – that allows your elderly parents or your disabled cousin to live at home with independence and dignity.

Yup. The Supreme Court ruled that these low-paid, dedicated and caring workers are not covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act and thus not entitled to minimum wage or overtime pay. In other words, we don’t need to pay a livable wage to workers who make life livable for others. Nice.

Home care jobs are stressful – mentally and physically. They are frequently filled by women and people of color, and their wages remain among the lowest in the service industry. In its statement on the Court’s ruling, the National Women’s Law Center points to research showing that median earnings for home health care workers employed on a full-time, full-year basis are below the federal poverty threshold for a family of four. Further, these workers usually lack retirement plans and other employment benefits.

In recent years, thousands of these aides across the country have been joining together with AFSCME to fight for fair pay and treatment. United, we will continue this fight for fairness.