Page 7 - Work Force September 2016

Private sector direct care workers demand better pay, living wages
MANHATTAN — CSEA members from the Guild for Exceptional Children recently joined workers from
other organizations that support individuals with developmental disabilities to demand a living wage.
The only way that these organizations can raise wages
for direct support professionals, teachers’ aides, drivers, cooks and others making minimum wage, or a little bit more, is for government to increase the rates they provide for the delivery of these critical services to New York’s most vulnerable citizens.
“I love what I do by serving those with developmental disabilities, those who need assistance and
those bettering themselves,” said Anthony Martinez, a direct support professional at the Guild for 14 years. “It would only be fair if my fellow direct support professionals and I had a living wage that can help us live and better ourselves.”
More than 90 percent of the funding that sustains these organizations comes from government and 80 percent of that goes directly to wages for staff who care for New Yorkers with autism, serious brain injuries, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and other developmental disabilities.
“Direct support professionals, special education teaching assistants and support staff such as cooks and drivers are not being paid a wage that they can live
on,” said Peter Pierri, executive director of the Interagency Council of Developmental Disabilities Agencies, Inc. “Statewide starting salaries average between $9.62 and $10.78. The jobs are complex and challenging and the pay is low.”
Nearly three-quarters of these workers are women, many single mothers and more than half are people of color.
In June, the “300 Days to Better
Anthony Martinez and other advocates fight for a living wage.
Pay” campaign was launched by the #bFair2DirectCareCoalition. The campaign calls on Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state legislature to address this critical funding issue in the next state budget to avoid
a crisis. The coalition includes organizations that support New Yorkers with developmental disabilities.
“You don’t have to look far to find some real life heroes in our community and direct support
professionals are certainly among their number,” said State Sen. Jesse Hamilton, the ranking member
on the Senate Mental Health
and Developmental Disabilities Committee.
“I stand in solidarity with direct support professionals as they demand what every worker deserves — a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work,” said Hamilton.
— David Galarza
‘Contracting in’ paving seals good results
On ground, Paving Crew Supervisor Willie Sellers, and on machine, Heavy Equipment Operator Derrick Baker, left, works with a representative from the company that sold the new paving machine. The crew is paving the West Court Street spur in Wampsville. Not shown in the photo is Motor Equipment Operator Jeff Colburn. Photo courtesy of Jeff Colburn.
WAMPSVILLE — Madison County’s new $389,000 paving machine has been in service for weeks resurfacing roadways across the county, with every steaming layer of asphalt
laid down a testament to our CSEA members who Never Quit.
Four years ago, most people wouldn’t have dreamed of that
new paver. At the time the county Highway Department contracted out its entire paving operation.
Settling a charge filed by our union, the county contracted back in the paving operations the following summer, which has been reaping the good results ever since.
“The county recognizes that we have a dedicated, hardworking and well qualified paving crew, and we just turn out excellent work every
time out,” said Madison County Blue Collar Unit President Jeffrey Colburn.
Last paving season, the county paving crew undertook several major projects, including rebuilding an entire road in the Village of Chittenango, and paving a newly- rebuilt bridge just north of the county office complex.
Now with the new, state-of-the-art paver, crew members can work even more efficiently with a higher level of quality that Colburn said “even the big paving contractors can’t surpass.”
“Doing the work using our county workers, we can control the costs, and more importantly, the quality,” he said. “Nobody does it better than we do.”
— Mark M. Kotzin
September 2016
The Work Force 7