Local home care worker insists Governor's cuts will cost livelihoods and lives
Fri, 12/17/2010
Home care worker Mike Roth is not only fighting for his financial survival, he is also fighting for the lives of his six clients. As one of 2.5 million members of the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU, Roth, 66, who lives in near Westwood Village, has been speaking out against Governor Gregoire's proposed cuts in her 2011-2013 State Budget. SEIU members provide care for people in private homes, hospitals, nursing homes, and janitorial services. Roth's clients, and his wages, are state subsidized.
According to the SEIU Local 775NW website, "Proposals include reducing voter-mandated training requirements, (and) slashing health benefits for low-wage caregivers. Just a day after agreeing to a 3% pay reduction for most state employees, the Governor proposed a 10% pay cut for the lowest paid public employees - home care workers who make just over $10/hour helping seniors and people with disabilities live in their own homes and communities."
“These cuts are a double whammy – by slashing hours of care for home care workers, not only is the state undermining the ability of seniors and people with disabilities to stay in their own homes but will also push tens of thousands of low-wage caregivers deeper into poverty,” said Spokane home care worker Karen Washington, quoted in the website.
"We protested all this last month," said Roth, worried he will make the minimum wage, or less. "I was under the governor's window in Olympia and was a speaker. She heard us and I hope she takes it to heart. This is going to affect all of us, and our clients. Without the help we give them they would be in big trouble. Most have no families, no support system of any kind. We are it."
While Roth seldom has the time for a vacation, he did visit Chicago a year ago October.
He explained, "I joined 5,000 people protesting the (American Bankers Association) convention at the Sheraton while they were celebrating all the money they made when everybody else was starving to death.
"I think I'm needed where I am," said Roth, when asked if he would consider taking on private clients or switching careers. "I've covered every aspect of illness for 35 years as a caregiver. Each of my clients is younger than I am. One client is quadriplegic. Another has dementia. One is bipolar, and one is near being bed ridden. I have one client, if he doesn't take his medication he gets panic anxiety attacks and mood swings and becomes dangerous if provoked. He would end up in an institution or group home if I could no longer work because of such low pay. I can just manage with my Social Security and working 130 hours a month.
"Having worked in group homes and nursing homes I can say that unless you absolutely have to live in one, you don't want to. They are so understaffed the people who live there don't get the service they need. They get warehoused."
Roth recalled working as the only staffer on night shift at a nursing home with 35 residents.
"You try changing 35 people's diapers every two hours and see how far you get. My doctor said that's one of the reasons my knees are bad is all that work.
"I was a chef in some of the fancier restaurants in Seattle," he said. "I cook for all my clients. I specialize in diabetic, low salt, high protein, low fat diets. I cook everything fresh. They eat better. When they cut my salary and hours, my clients will go to those fast food places eating high fat meals, and end up in the hospital or worse."