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IHSS caregivers press board for livable wages as negotiations continue; closed session yields no reportable action
Summary
In-home Supportive Services (IHSS) caregivers and a union organizer urged the Board of Supervisors to raise wages to retain caregivers and support 4,500 local recipients; the board recessed to closed session on IHSS bargaining and later reported no reportable action.
Multiple IHSS providers and an organizer asked the Board of Supervisors to raise wages and invest in the county's IHSS program, which provides in-home care for older adults and people with disabilities.
Speakers and message: Susan McMains, who identified herself as an IHSS caregiver of 17 years speaking on behalf of a recipient, asked the board to "invest in IHSS, raise raising wages for workers to help ensure what Tina went through never happens to another one of your constituents again." Ronnie (an IHSS worker) described the program as "a backbone of care in this community" and listed the medical and personal-support tasks IHSS workers perform. Madeline, an organizer representing roughly 4,200 IHSS workers in Shasta County, said she appreciated bargaining movement with county negotiators and asked the board to continue to negotiate in good faith.
Why it matters: Speakers said IHSS keeps vulnerable residents in their homes, reduces pressure on institutional care settings and supports local caregivers who live and spend in the county. Organizers said IHSS improvements are both a public-health measure and a local economic investment.
Board action and closed session: The board recessed into closed session for IHSS bargaining; county counsel later reported that closed-session deliberations produced no reportable action. Supervisors earlier approved a procedural motion to move the IHSS agenda item earlier in the meeting so bargaining could proceed.
Ending: Negotiations were ongoing at the end of the meeting. Caregivers urged the board to finalize a wage increase that would improve recruitment and retention and said doing so would reduce costs associated with more acute care and nursing-home placements.
