Fresno County Home Health Care Workers Ask Supervisors for Increased Wages, Health Benefits

Dozens of workers in Fresno County who provide home health care services for elderly and disabled patients on Tuesday asked the county Board of Supervisors for higher wages and health benefits, the Fresno Bee reports. The workers participate in the In-Home Supportive Services program, which pays them with a combination of county, state and federal funds (Davis, Fresno Bee, 2/5). Last summer, the workers joined Service Employees International Union Local 250 and last June began negotiations with county officials for a contract that would increase wages from $6.75 per hour to $9.50 per hour and would provide health benefits (California Healthline, 10/7/02). "The county hasn't put a penny on the table," union organizer Pam Whalen said. The workers on Tuesday told supervisors that the state and federal governments would reimburse the county for the cost of increased wages. However, board Chair Juan Arambula raised concerns about the proposal. "There are risks involved in increasing (the program's) costs in that we don't know if we'll be reimbursed or how much or when," he said. Arambula said that he expects supervisors to make a counteroffer to the union "soon," the Bee reports (Fresno Bee, 2/5).