Siskiyou In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) Campaign Updates

December 10, 2024
Posted in Union Updates
Tagged in , ,

In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) is a social service that allows people who need long-term care to receive it in the comfort and safety of their own homes. In Siskiyou County, approximately 490 IHSS workers provide long-term care services—including household work, personal care services, and paramedical services—to approximately 580 older adults and people with disabilities.

Click here to learn more about the essential long-term care IHSS workers provide.

Without our IHSS workers, our neighbors who receive services through IHSS would lose access to essential long-term care. Despite their vital role in Siskiyou’s long-term care system, IHSS workers earn just $16 an hour. They are the only IHSS workforce in California that is still paid minimum wage and lacks the protections of a collective bargaining agreement.

Siskiyou IHSS workers are joining together to secure a strong contract that increases wages and improves benefits for workers, and guarantees just & equitable access to long-term care for all who need it in our community.

Dannie Matlock (left) is a Siskiyou IHSS worker who began caring for his wife, Marie Matlock (right), after she experienced a stroke in 1999.

In November:

  • Our union went door-to-door across Siskiyou County to hear from IHSS workers and recipients about how a strong union contract will positively impact their lives.
  • We heard stories of the need for higher wages that will help workers stay in the caregiving profession as we prepare to address the growing demand for in-home care across the county.
  • IHSS recipients expressed the essential role their caregivers play in supporting their independence and enabling them to have a voice in how they receive long-term care.
  • IHSS workers and recipients will continue telling our stories to make sure people with disabilities and older adults across our county will have just and equitable access to long-term care for years to come.

On Tuesday, October 1:

  • Siskiyou home care workers spoke out at the Board of Supervisors meeting to demand our elected officials invest in long-term care and pass a strong union contract for IHSS providers.
  • After the meeting, we rallied in front of the Board chambers to inform our community about the growing long-term care crisis and how investing in our IHSS workforce is the best solution to address it.