Last Saturday, June 9th marked the two year anniversary of the death of Ms. Evelyn Coke, a leader in the fight for economic justice for America’s home care workers. A home care worker herself for 20 years, who often worked 70 hours a week for less than $5.15 an hour, Ms. Coke took her case for unpaid overtime wages all the way to the Supreme Court in 2007. Unfortunately for Ms. Coke, the court ruled that she was not entitled to any retroactive wages from her former employer. Fortunately, she inspired a movement for the fair and ethical treatment of millions of direct care workers across the country. In the spirit of that movement, since 2007 the DCA has led efforts to change the FLSA through legislation in Congress and by calling on the Dept. of Labor to extend minimum wage and overtime protections to home care workers.
Last year the DCA began efforts on Capitol Hill to pass the Direct Care Workforce Empowerment Act, a bill that would have finally extend minimum wage and overtime benefits to home care workers. This year, the DCA is continuing that fight with the introduction and advocacy for the Direct Care Job Quality Improvement Act, sponsored by Rep. Linda Sanchez in the House and Sen. Robert P. Casey, Jr. in the Senate. At a briefing hosted by the DCA on Capitol Hill to announce the legislation last month, Rep. Sanchez aptly stated, “They (direct care workers) care for our parents and grandparents, but we don’t guarantee home care workers the minimum wage. It is my hope that this bill corrects this injustice and helps improve the direction of direct care services.” In the coming weeks and months, the DCA will continue to build support and advocate for the passage of this critical legislation. We urge everyone who supports the vital role direct care workers play in our society to ask their representatives in Congress to co-sponsor this legislation today.
