The following speeches were written by graduates of the DCA’s 2008 Voices Institute in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in the Evelyn Coke case.
Good morning! Thank you for coming. I am honored to be here with you today to talk about a very serious matter. I’m Bridget Siljander and I am the President of the Direct Support Professional Association of Minnesota, which is a State chapter of the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals. I’m here to address you on behalf of DSPAM regarding the case of Long Island Care at Home vs. Evelyn Coke.
Evelyn Coke is a victim and a symbol of a systemic and widespread discrimination against direct care workers. She represents a workforce that is undervalued, and subsequently under-compensated. Direct care workers provide services to individuals with disabilities and chronic illnesses and the aging population. They work on the frontlines in our health care system and disability services, but are marginalized when it comes to organizational and policy planning. They are responsible for helping millions of Americans to live as independently as possible in community settings, which most prefer over institutional settings. They enhance the quality of life of their consumers and enable them to direct their own lives, which is a basic human right.
Evelyn Coke was one such worker for over twenty years. How can it be right to tell a 73-year old retiree of the direct care workforce that neither she, nor millions of direct care workers, are entitled to overtime protection, as are virtually all other working Americans? In June of 2007, the Supreme Court felt this was the right decision in determining the case that Evelyn Coke had brought forth in attempts to obtain overtime for direct care workers.
This is a highly disturbing event. As a direct care worker myself, and as an advocate for direct care workers, I am outraged. I have worked in the direct care field for over ten years, and though I love my job tremendously, it has not been easy to support myself.
I will tell you about what life has been like for me as a direct care worker. It has been fulfilling work for me, but I have been caught in the poverty cycle as a result of the substandard wages and lack of benefits. I have relied on Medicaid and have utilized many state benefits in order to make up for the gap between my earnings and the cost of basic living.
When I first began as a home health aide in 1997, I provided services to a diverse clientèle. In the mornings and at night, I worked for a man with quadriplegia due to a spinal cord injury. After doing a bowel program, I would transfer him out of bed into his shower chair and wheel him to his bathroom for a shower. After his shower, I would transfer him back into bed where I would dress him and do physical therapy exercises. After getting him up into his power wheelchair, I would then assist him with brushing his teeth, combing his hair, putting on deodorant and dressing. He would have breakfast next and finish getting ready for the day. This whole process took three to four hours, depending on what particular cares he needed.
When my work was done, he went to work. He is a successful motivational speaker and educator. If not for my support, he could not have worked and maintained a life independently in the community and could not have contributed as much to society.
My next client was about four hours after this shift, and went from 4 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. On this shift, I worked with a 10-year old boy with autism, cerebral palsy, and developmental disabilities. I bathed him, dressed him, prepared him meals, took him to his community center where he could interact with other children, and we did physical therapy exercises. He was often combative and I would get struck from time to time, so I learned how to manage his challenging behaviors. My support was important for the functioning of this boy, but also for the functioning of his family.
An hour and a half after this shift, I worked again with the client I had had in the morning and usually finished around midnight. Some days, I worked with other clients, too — for example, elderly women needing just a couple of hours for a bath visit.
I know that I and other direct care workers play a vital role in our communities. Our service is what keeps the health care and disability services systems running. We must invest in the direct care workforce to sustain the highest quality of life for the millions of Americans with disabilities and chronic illnesses and the aging population – and, yes, for direct care workers. Without the proper federal government funding and support, this great number of Americans will suffer immensely, and as a nation, we can’t afford the traumatic economic effects this has on us.
There is no option but to pay direct care workers what is fair by any reasonable standard, and that means at the very least overtime pay. Let us show direct care workers that we value them enough to not take away what is rightly American. Let us tell Evelyn Coke that we honor her noble service by overturning this case. I invite you to join the Direct Support Professional Association of Minnesota in taking action to right this wrong.
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Good morning and thank you all for coming. I would especially like to thank our local Congressman for his attention and support. I realize the congressman is very busy and I appreciate his response by sending you here today. It is my hope that I may address you as Ms. Lisa Jones, aide to Senator Tom Allen at this time next year. My fellow direct support professionals and I greatly appreciate his acknowledgment.
I would also like to thank every direct support professional that was able to take the time to be here,the consumers we work with and the employers who are here today. I also want to thank the members of the state legislature and journalists who are here. Thank you all for your attendance today.
My name is Lorenzo Raffa. I am a father of 2 grown daughters, a graduate of the University of Southern Maine, I am a volunteer at community radio station WMPG since 1988 ,where you may have heard me on a weekly segment called The Lorenzo Commentaries. Anyone? No? OK, it’s a small station, moving on…
A very important part of my life has been working as a direct support professional for the past decade. I work with the developmentally disabled, I work with the deaf, I’ve worked with teenagers, and I‘ve worked with the elderly, I am entrusted with dispensing medication on schedule and in the correct dose, and I am a member of the fastest growing workforce in both Maine and the United States.
Today I’m going to tell you about a fellow direct care worker. I’ve paraphrased this from the SEIU website. Seventy-three year old Evelyn Coke was employed more than twenty years for Long Island Care at Home. Her job, dedicated to the same client throughout, sometimes entailed four 24-hour days a week, sleeping at a client’s home, rarely receiving time-and-a-half compensation for the overtime work hours. After working so hard with so little to show for it in she brought a suit against her employer in 2003. This case served to challenge the Department of Labor’s construction of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s “companionship exemption,” which categorized home care workers as casual helpers such as babysitters, thus permitting home care agencies to deny home care workers overtime (time and a half on base pay) and minimum wage.
She won her case in the state court. However, on June 11, 2007, the U. S. Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that sided with the companionship exemption.
As a direct result, a colleague of mine from the Direct Care Alliance, Irene from Arizona, received a letter from her employer of many years, notifying her that since they were no longer required to pay her overtime, they would stop doing so immediately. Because of the Court’s decision, the value of her work was diminished by 33 1/3%, although she faithfully put in 50 to 60 hours a week.
I’ve looked up companion and have found the phrases “helpful friend” and “live-in helper.” My friends, It is 2008, and our industry has evolved into so, so much more than that. Dogs and kitties are companions. We are professionals. Yet some among us still are simply exemptions for the Fair Labor Standards Act.
I’m going to repeat this: exempt from the Fair…Labor…Standards…Act. We, the men and women who take care of your grandparents, your parents, and yes, someday perhaps all of you, are considered less than your sanitation worker, your plumber, your firefighter, yet all are involved in your health and safety. Something is definitely amiss here.
But the solution is in site: the Supreme Court decision leaves open the possibility that a new administration could amend the regulation to provide that home care workers employed by third-party agencies do not fall within the exemption or that Congress could amend the Act to so provide. We can also accomplish this state by state, and the great state of Maine is a great place to start. There is a well-known saying, “As Maine goes, so goes the nation.” Let us lead the nation to respect Evelyn Coke, Irene, me, and all of my fellow health care workers. I thank you.
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Good afternoon, my name is Anderson Waldon. I’m a 30-year direct care worker. I wish to thank all the direct care workers, who responded to my invitation.
Hello Sue Gibson, nice of you to come. Sue is a 20-plus-years direct care worker. Thank you Senator ____________ for taking time out of your busy day to be with us today.
You have heard this before: “…all men are created equal…Endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights…Among these life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
There is now a threat to this for many direct care workers.
Home care is a necessity for millions of elders and people with disabilities who want to live with dignity in their own community. Ms. Evelyn Coke, a home care worker sued her employer because he paid her below minimum wage and denied her overtime pay.
(She Lost)
This was allowed to occur because of a narrow exception in the 1974 Federal Fair Labor Standards Act for babysitters and “companions.” If you worked under those labels, you could be denied minimum wage protection and overtime pay.
In the early 1900s, certain groups of European immigrants were also labeled. There were among them artists,craftsmen, lawyers, doctors and etc. They were labeled as ignorant and unteachable because the couldn’t speak English. The first jobs for many were as laborers. What a waste of talent and ability.
There are 1.4 million home care aides and personal attendants who now could be labeled “companion.”
You remember the label “companion.” It applied to the disenfranchisement of home care workers through effectively voiding their rights to minimum wage pay and overtime pay.
Titles like “babysitter” and “companion” imply no real training or education. Yet direct care workers are very well trained for the skillful and caring job they do. Labeling should not ever be a barrier to a person’s “…pursuit of happiness”.
What Do I Want?
I want direct care workers to be exempted from this exception.
I want direct care workers’ wages to be exempt from re-reimbursements.
I want affordable health care for all.
What Do I Want From You?
I want you to sign up for the Respect for Homecare Workers Campaign.
I want your support for the Fair Home Care Act
Thank you for your time and attention.
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Good morning! I would like to thank all of you for being here today. To all fellow workers, consumers, employers, and aides, I appreciate the time you’ve taken and the chance you given me.
My name is Lindsay Short and I am here as a direct support professional in hopes to make change. I am the vice president of the Direct Support Professional Association of Minnesota (DSPAM) and currently work as an employment specialist for adults with disabilities. In addition, I’ve worked as a home health aide for adults with physical disabilities. My work is extremely important to not only me, but to the people that I serve.
“The way you see people is the way you treat them, and the way you treat them is what they become” -Johann von Goethe
As ruled by the Supreme Court, in the eyes of the law direct support professionals are seen as companions with no right to benefits, adequate pay, or opportunity for overtime pay. With this title as a companion, direct support professionals have been stripped of the respect that they, like everyone else deserve.
A companion is a friend who stands by your side. As direct support professionals we are friends to our consumers, but we are so much more than that! We are the people who bring life and purpose to our consumers. We allow our consumers the freedom and independence that without the personal and medical care that we provide they would not have. We have skills, knowledge, and competencies that deserve respect and that deserves a title that demonstrates this. We want to name ourselves. We want to be seen as professionals.
This issue affects all of us. When I look into the future, I wonder if there were no direct support professionals, who would be there to take care of our loved ones? I believe that without direct support professionals a grim future lies ahead. The system would break down.
First and foremost are our consumers. Without the support of direct support professionals, our consumers suffer as well. The quality of service and our consumer’s needs can only be met if workers have quality jobs.
Direct support professionals are the backbone to their employer’s vision and mission. With the lack of benefits, pay, and compensation direct support professionals are forced to leave the job they truly love. This can increase the cost an employer with use in order to recruit and train in new employees. Employers deserve to have the funds that allows them to pay their employees at a respected level and to keep their missions going.
When direct support professionals are unable to receive adequate pay and benefits, it puts a strain on the economy as well because of the increase need for government assistance in order to survive.
So I ask you to get together and join me in the fight for the respect and dignity direct support professionals – and really all of us – deserve. I ask you to join me in the Respect Homecare Workers Campaign. Let your voices be heard!
Thank you
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Hello, everyone.
I am Helen Hanson, a direct care worker with Home Care for Maine. I help elders stay independent and in their homes.
I am also president of MSEA-SEIU Local 1989, Local 771. Local 771 is Maine’s Direct Care Worker Union. I represent over 700 fellow direct care workers in Maine.
It has recently come to my attention that in 2007, the US Supreme Court upheld a ruling by the US Department of Labor that says we home care workers are not worthy of at least minimum wage and overtime pay. The US Supreme Court agreed with the Department of Labor’s idea that home care workers are companions to the people we help and serve.
I have a problem with this word “companion” when I hear a public official or someone call direct care workers “companions.” It makes me feel very small, low to the ground and squashed like a bug. Direct care workers are not companions; we are trained professionals, helping fellow neighbors remain in their homes and independent.
I am much more than a companion, much more than a friend to my consumers. What friend would feel comfortable helping clean you up after you’d had an accident because you’re incontinent? What friend would help you with a bath?
Do you know how personal it is helping someone with a bath? You are in their personal space. You are in their comfort zone. You are beyond their comfort zone. Think about it – wouldn’t you want a trained professional direct care worker helping your mom, dad, grandparent in their home with their personal care?
There is respect and pride along with joy in the work we do. There is pride and joy in knowing we are helping someone maintain their dignity, their independence.
This ruling by the US Supreme Court to exclude direct care workers from equal opportunities provided to other workers under the “Fair” Labor Standards Act is unjust and unfair. It is discrimination. It takes away a basic right of employment – the right to at least a minimum wage and overtime pay.
This ruling needs to be overturned. Direct care workers deserve equal rights in employment. We deserve the right to be respected. We are not companions – we are competent, trained, professional direct care workers.
We need to have Congress overturn the Supreme Court’s ruling. We need to band together – have a voice – get the word out. We need to talk to our elected officials in Congress.
Are you with me? Let’s do this. Let’s get the Supreme Court’s ruling overturned. Let’s get us direct care workers the respect, dignity and equality we deserve.
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Good morning. My name is Tracy Dudzinski. I am here today representing WIDCA, The Wisconsin Direct Caregiver Alliance, and direct workers. I’d like to thank everyone for coming. Tim from senator Kohl’s office, Ginny from New Horizons, Tom from LEF, Kathy from Home Instead and all my fellow caregivers. I appreciate all of you coming out this morning.
Today I would like to address the issue of respect for the direct caregiver- or should I say lack of respect. This lack of respect shown to caregivers has a negative impact endangering the quality of care your loved one receives.
I am speaking from experience. I have been in the health care field for 12 years and I have been referred to as a glorified butt wiper, the bottom of the totem pole, a mule, a workhorse, and “just” a babysitter, but I can tell you I AM SO MUCH MORE.
I AM a psychologist, a physical therapist, a pharmacist, a doctor, a chauffer, a personal shopper, a housekeeper, a cook. Most of all, I am a COMPASSIONATE SOUL who cares for your mother, your father, your daughter, your son, your grandmother or your grandfather.
Under the Fair Labor and Standards Act most all other professions are guaranteed the assurance of a minimum wage and overtime pay. But under a ruling by the Supreme Court my profession is excluded from this guarantee. This decision also labels home care workers as companions, though we are so much more. This decision and classification by the Supreme Court devalues the work of a direct caregiver.
When direct caregivers receive the respect they deserve, and we value the important work they do, the quality of care for your loved ones will improve. Statistics have proven the cost of turnover will decrease and the retention rates for direct caregivers will increase.
So today I am asking you to join me and WIDCA to support The Respect for Home Care Workers Campaign, and recognize the value direct caregivers have in our society. LET THIS FIGHT BE YOUR LEGACY!!!
I have the pledge forms here with me today. I am trusting you to do the right thing and sign up, giving respect and honor where it is long overdue.
Thank you again for your time and support.
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My name is Roberta F. Record from Augusta, Maine. I am here to address legislation bill_______________
As we evolve into the 21st century, our society is losing the safety net of security for our most vulnerable people. Those affected are your elders, my elders, our neighbor elders, and families with disabilities. Bill_____ is flawed and unintentionally insulting to those of us who made a commitment to our most vulnerable population.
We the public need to protect and nurture these jobs. They provide a dignity to humanity that would be grossly violent to those suffering and the people around them who would see a premature deathwatch in their neighborhoods. We have worked hard to become a civil society. Letʼs not go backward.
The flaw of LD__________ is its definition of the term to describe caregivers. Professional caregivers are committed to deepening the humanity of the safety net. They have many different skills to work with a diverse population. Grouping these people into a box with demoted salaries would encourage these people to move in another direction. We already have a high turnover rate in the profession now. Baby boomers are the next generation to need care.
The time has come to sit down at the table to give credit where credit is due, and rewrite a bill that is honoring the people who we need to invest in with time, lifelong learning opportunities, supportive teachers, mentors, and a living wage to maintain their self-respect and care for themselves .
Thank you for your time. If you have questions, I would be glad to meet with you.
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Good evening.
My name is Ray Erickson. I have been in the health care industry for the past 22 years. I currently work in a long term care facility in rural Iowa. I would like to thank my distinguished guests and the local media for attending this meeting about the Fair Home Care Act that is currently in Congress.
I am here today to invite and ask you to be a part of a coalition to get this legislation passed to correct an injustice that has happened to most home care workers across this great nation.
Evelyn Coke was a 20-year employee of a home care business in New York. She herself is now in need of health care services. She sued her former employer for not paying minimum wages or overtime time pay. She did win her case both in the state court and federal court. Her employer appealed the verdict. This case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court ,where the verdict was overturned in favor of the employer.
I also have a fellow health care provider who was informed by a letter with her paycheck that the company she worked for would no longer be paying her overtime pay for anything over 40hrs/wk.
Home care workers are just as well trained as any other health care provider. They are entitled and deserve the exact same basic labor protection as any other health care professional.
In conclusion, I thank you for your time listening to me and hope to have you standing at my side as we work to this process to fix this injustice. Good day.
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Good morning everyone,
My name is Vicki Erickson. I have been a CNA for the last 23 years. I am currently an active member of Iowa CareGivers Association for the last 5 years. I work in a hospital in rural Iowa. I would like to thank Senator Nancy Boettger and Representative Jack Drake and Mrs. Merkle from the Sunshine Home Care Agency for attending.
Evelyn Coke worked for a home care agency for over 20 years, providing care to clients. She ended up taking her former employer to court for not paying minimum wages or overtime pay. She won her case in the state and federal courts. Her employer appealed the case and took it all the way to the Supreme Court. Unfortunately, Evelyn lost her case there and the court ruled in favor of the employer.
Home care workers in the U.S. are just as well trained as their counterparts in the health care area. It takes a kind heart and just as much compassion to take care of someone in their home as it does to take care of someone in a facility. They deserve the same basic rights as any other professional. They are entitled to at least make minimum wage and overtime pay.
In conclusion, I hope you will stand up for and support the Fair Home Care Act. I want to thank you for your time and for listening to me.
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Good Morning,
My name is Sue Gibson and I am a direct care worker in Canton, Ohio. First of all, I want to thank everyone for attending this meeting. I want to thank the Senator, and Mrs. Rossi who has worked at a long term facility for the last 30 years. Also I want to thank each and every direct care worker who came here this morning to attend this very important meeting. This meeting is about the Evelyn Coke case.
Value is the issue that I am addressing. When you take away our value (direct care workers) it makes us feel hurt. We put our hearts and soul into taking care of our residents and we don’t get the feeling that we are appreciated.
Things have to change to make the Fair Home Care Act active. Using the word “companion” is not fair. We are more than just a companion.
We need to be respected for all of the hard work we do for the people that we care for. Their daily lives depend on us. We help them keep balanced in their lives and support them any way they need it. Some residents are very challenging, but with our help they can be independent.
Equality needs to be addressed because we all do the same job and some people get paid more than others. That is because you want to call a hard-working health care aide a “companion.” We all are professional and trained.
Please help me educate everyone about the Fair Home Care Act and educate the public and legislatures about this serious issue.
I want to thank everyone for listening and for your time. I hope I won your support.
The campaign forms are on the table in the back of the room.
Thanks again.
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This is from Irene Pferdeort, Arizona Direct Care Worker Association
Good morning. I’d like to start of by thanking everyone for being here this morning. Thank you to direct care workers for taking time off from work to be here.
Who am I?
• I am a trained professional.
• I am a direct care worker.
• I am who you call to care for your injured and hurt in their homes.
• I am who you call to assist the weak and dying in their homes.
• I am who you call to nurture and nourish your aging parents and grandparents in their homes.
• I am who you call to offer you support.
I received a letter one day. It did not start with “Dear Valued Employee,” nor did it end with “Thank you for all your hard work.” It started with “A law was passed.” A law that excludes home care workers from the Fair Labor Standard Acts, upheld by the Supreme Court in 2007. As your employer, we are no longer required to pay your overtime, as your employer we are no longer required to pay your minimum wage.
Home care is one of the fastest growing occupations in the United States as the baby boomer generation ages. There are now 1.4 million direct care workers and a million more will be needed to be recruited in the next 10 years. Because of this law, the hours of training this million will receive is the minimum. So, when you make that call for your loved ones, a companion will answer, a companion with no medical training, a companion being paid only minimum wage.
The direct care workers of America are asking for your help and support. Restore our dignity and respect. Please be our champions. Join us and the Direct Care Alliance in fighting to change this law. Please join us in the Respect for Homecare Workers campaign. Thank you.
