The lead editorial in the January 27 New York Times calls on the federal government to improve wages and labor protections for home care workers — a major area of advocacy for the DCA.
The editorial urges the Obama administration to “rewrite the rules to extend federal protections to home care workers” or work with Congress to pass a law granting those protections –the same recommendation the DCA made in its December letter to President Obama (pdf).
The boom in health care jobs should be a bright spot in today’s economy, the Times points out, but “unfortunately, one of the fastest-growing areas within the health care field — home care for the elderly — also is one of the lowest paid and most exploitable.”
Much of the editorial focuses on the “outdated labor rules from 1975″ that exempt home care aides from federal overtime and minimum wage laws — rules that home care worker Evelyn Coke challenged and the U.S. Supreme Court upheld in 2007. It has already inspired a long list of comments, which are also worth reading.
The Direct Care Alliance launched the Respect for Homecare Workers Campaign in 2007 to gain support and bring attention to this issue.
“Given the sheer numbers of these occupations today as well as their tremendous expected growth, direct-care jobs are uniquely positioned to help repair and stabilize our faltering economy,” says an 
“This is not an end but a beginning,” said Kareem Dale, a member of President-elect Obama’s transition team, to DCA Executive Director Leonila Vega, DCA board member Vera Salter, and the other members of a small group he assembled yesterday in Washington, D.C.
