For Immediate Release
Wednesday, April 10, 2002
Home Health Aides Testify at NJ Legislative Budget Hearing
Aides Say Employers Aren't Paying Pay Raise Legislature Appropriated for Them Last Year
WEST NEW YORK, NJ —Home health aides represented by the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees (NUHHCE), 1199/American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) testified today at a Joint Senate/Assembly Budget hearing in West New York, New Jersey. The aides told lawmakers that employers are not paying them the $1 per hour pay raise appropriated for them during last year's legislative session.
"We home health aides were very happy about the $1 per hour wage increase that the legislature appropriated last year. But we're not getting the money because our employers are not paying us," said Patricia Marquez, who has worked as a home health aide in Northern New Jersey for five years.
Last year legislators appropriated the wage increase through the state's Medicaid program, which reimburses home health aides for personal care, bathing, medication management, cooking, housekeeping and meal preparation for elderly and disabled citizens. The raise went into effect nearly a year ago on July 1, 2001.
"Home health aides in Trenton struggled for the $1 raise. But the employers are keeping it," said Olga Elizondo, a longtime home health aide in New Jersey. "That's just not right."
In addition to low wages, the vast majority of home health aides providing care to their elderly and disabled clients have no health care insurance coverage themselves. "I've been a Certified Home Health Aide for more than 20 years and every agency says the same thing: they can't give us health insurance, vacation or Workers' Compensation insurance," Elizondo added. "And on top of it, they're taking our pay raise."
"What a boon the wage increase was going to be for all of us who've always been there through thick and thin for our clients — and loyal to our companies over the years, too," said home health aide Francis White.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, home health aides in New Jersey earn an average of $8.50 per hour, making them among the lowest paid workers in the state. "We work very hard to provide the quality care that our elderly and disabled clients deserve and that taxpayers expect," added Marquez. "We deserve our raises."
