Home care workers rally at governor’s residence, Capitol asking Gov. Lamont for higher pay and benefits

Home care workers gathered Tuesday at the governor’s residence and then the state Capitol to lobby Gov. Ned Lamont to meet their demands for higher pay and basic benefits.

The unionized workers, who are part of SEIU District 1199NE, invited Lamont to “walk a day in our shoes” to understand the life of a personal care attendant.

“Most of us have hard times trying to pay the bills with what little money we get,” said Cynthie Hunter, who was a personal care attendant until last year but has stayed active with the union. “[The governor] needs to walk in our shoes to understand that [our work] does matter.”

Tuesday’s action was the latest in a series of union escalations that also included a letter to state lawmakers and a protest near the Capitol in mid-February at which 20 workers and their supporters were arrested after blocking a major intersection.

Outside the governor’s residence Tuesday, about a half-dozen home care workers passed out flyers and doughnuts to drivers passing by. The handouts invited people to call Lamont “and tell him CT’s 10,000 home care providers deserve health insurance, paid sick days and living wages.”

The workers said they were seeking a “pathway to $20 an hour,” along with health insurance, vacation time and a retirement plan.

“I’m here to fight for my right to have good benefits, to have a good salary, health insurance,” Eva Santiago, a personal care attendant who is part of the union, said in Spanish. “We’re all here in the struggle, struggling to be able to live well, to give a better life to our family.”

The workers who protested Tuesday are among about 10,000 personal care attendants paid by the state to care for elderly and disabled residents at home. They are not a part of State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition, the bargaining coalition that reached a tentative agreement with the state on a new contract Tuesday.

According to the union, most of the personal care attendants are women, and many are Black or Latino.

“We’re working. We aren’t asking for handouts,” said Luis Morales, who works as a personal care attendant in Bristol. “We’re just asking for what should be right and respectful, especially taking care of people who can’t take care of themselves.”

Later Tuesday, the workers stopped by the Capitol, where they spoke briefly with Lamont’s chief of staff, Paul Mounds, outside the governor’s office and dropped off a box of doughnuts.

A Lamont spokesperson declined comment on the home care workers’ demands.

Terrell Williams, a personal care attendant in New Haven, said he works three jobs totaling 60 hours a week and still can’t afford health insurance. That means he often can’t pay for the insulin he needs to treat his diabetes.

At one point recently, his vision became blurry, which doctors attributed to the lack of insulin.

“It scared the heck out of me,” said Williams, who eventually secured insulin only after his income dropped low enough that he qualified for HUSKY. “I can’t make a living if I’m blind.”

As some home care workers gathered Tuesday morning at the governor’s residence, others were busy with court-ordered community service — the result of the mid-February action in which they blocked the intersection of Capitol Avenue and Trinity, Washington and Lafayette streets.

Iva Johnson, an organizer with 1199NE, said the union wanted to make a strong statement to Lamont that its workers deserved better wages and benefits, possibly coming from the state’s rainy day fund or from money that flowed into Connecticut from the federal government.

“We want to make sure the governor knows we are the ones who deserve that money,” she said.

In a letter to Lamont and other state officials shared with The Courant on Tuesday, union leaders cited high rates of turnover among personal care attendants, which they attributed to poor wages and benefits.

“Fulfilling work may fill our hearts, but it doesn’t fill our bellies or buy our needed prescriptions,” the letter read. “Among us we have medical debt that threatens to bankrupt us due to being uninsured; we’re at risk of eviction or have been evicted from our homes; we work multiple jobs up to 100 hours a week and still can’t keep our heads above water.”

Alex Putterman can be reached at aputterman@courant.com.