Approximately 50 home healthcare aides picketed their union headquarters in Manhattan on Monday, demanding that their elected officials tell home health agencies to end mandatory 24-hour shifts. The protester claimed such lengthy work hours are abusive and damaging to families.
The aides also drafted a similarly-intended letter to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and President-elect Joe Biden, and they also appealed to their union president, George Gresham of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, the nation’s largest healthcare union.
“Why does 1199 allow the abuse of women workers like this?” asked one union member. “We are human beings, flesh and blood, taking care of people who are sick or old, to the best of our abilities. The 24-hour shifts are unacceptable.”
The union maintains that the issue is not theirs to correct and instead must be addressed by the legislature.
