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<\/a>On Wednesday, April 29, in-home caregivers from across Orange County will gather at Asian Garden Mall to rally in support of the In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program and educate the public\u2014including local business owners\u2013 to urge the Orange County Board of Supervisors to invest in care work.<\/p>\nUnited Domestic Workers (UDW), one of California\u2019s largest labor unions, represents more than 250,000 care workers across the state. In Orange County, 48,000 care workers provide care to 55,000 IHSS recipients. Union members are demanding that the County Board of Supervisors bargain in good faith and prioritize good wages and benefits for caregivers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Over 14,000 recipients of IHSS care in Orange County\u2014more than a quarter of all IHSS recipients in Orange County\u2014identify as Vietnamese. Home care workers provide vital services to seniors and people with disabilities, but are paid just $18.90 per hour. According to\u00a0MIT\u2019s Living Wage Calculator,<\/a>\u00a0a single adult in Orange County would need to be paid at least $36.53 an hour to support themselves. With the cost of groceries, gas, and utilities on the rise, many workers are struggling to make ends meet for themselves and their families.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBeing a care provider is a difficult job, period,\u201d said Cynthia Williams, a UDW member and IHSS provider in Anaheim. \u201cBut as the cost of living has increased in recent months, my family has had to make real sacrifices\u2014from driving less to foregoing certain groceries. But, with no end in sight to skyrocketing prices, we need the Orange County Board of Supervisors to acknowledge the important role we play in our communities and pay us fairly for the care we provide.\u201d<\/p>\n UDW\u2019s current Memorandum of Understanding expires on June 30, 2026. So far, the Board of Supervisors has been slow to respond to the union\u2019s requests to increase wages. UDW members have shown up en masse to the last two Board of Supervisors meetings to express the importance of their work and are asking community leaders to support their fight.\u00a0<\/p>\n The IHSS program is partially funded by Medicaid. Last year, Republicans in Congress and President Trump passed and signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which will cut\u00a0one trillion dollars in Medicaid\u00a0<\/a>money, in order to give a massive tax break to billionaires. While California faces a budget deficit and Orange County faces a\u00a0rapidly aging population,<\/a>\u00a0the Board of Supervisors urgently needs to fund the IHSS program to attract and retain qualified care providers to keep up with the communities\u2019 needs<\/p>\n<\/a>\u201cThe Vietnamese community has a strong tradition of taking care of our elders and community members with disabilities. I\u2019m proud to be an IHSS provider to family members who rely on me for their daily needs, such as personal hygiene, cooking specialized meals, dispensing and monitoring medication, taking them to medical appointments, cleaning, and giving them companionship,\u201d said Angie Nguyen, an IHSS provider in Garden Grove. \u201cThe work we do is vital and needed, so our seniors and people living with disabilities can thrive, and we need the Orange County Board of Supervisors to stand up and invest in care work.\u201d<\/p>\n