CHICAGO--
Home care workers and consumers affirmed that they are ready to stand up for
quality home care in Illinois in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in
Harris v. Quinn today.
Flora Johnson, a home care provider for over 14-years who
cares for her son Kenneth, born with cerebral palsy, and serves as the
chairperson of the Executive Board of SEIU Healthcare Illinois, issued the
following statement:
“No court case can diminish the determination of the 25,000
Personal Assistants in the Illinois Home Services Program from our goals of
delivering quality care to people with disabilities and assuring that home care
jobs are quality jobs. The 30,000 people with disabilities in Illinois who
receive our services deserve a stable, dependable workforce to help them to live
independently in their homes, which is their primary desire.
“We are more determined than ever that joining together in
unions is the best way for home care workers to ensure the quality care for
which we strive. And we are prepared to work with the leadership of our state
and allies of the disability community to ensure that we continue to have a
strong voice for quality home care. History demonstrates that since we’ve had
our union, the quality of care, stability of the workforce – due to better
wages, benefits and cost effectiveness of the Home Services Program – have
improved dramatically.
“Our state will witness a drastic rise in the number of
people who will need home care services as baby boomers enter their senior years
in increasing numbers. It is in our best interest to be prepared for this
increased demand.
“We will not allow the tunnel vision focus of anti-worker
extremists like the Right to Work Foundation -- which brought this suit and
whose only concern is to destroy unions -- to diminish the quality of life for
people with disabilities who have benefited from a solid home care
program.”
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