Unions and Disabilities Committee Chairs Sound Alarm on Direct Care, Calling for 4% COLA and Guaranteed Wage Increases for Front Line Workers
ALBANY, NY - Today, labor unions representing direct care workers employed by non-profit agencies that contract with OPWDD were joined by Chairs of the Senate and Assembly Disabilities Committees Senator Patricia Fahy and Assemblymember Angelo Santabarbara, and other members of the Senate and Assembly to demand immediate investment in direct care workers.
The coalition is calling on lawmakers to include both a 4% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) and Article VII language that guarantees funding is used to raise wages for direct care workers. While both the Senate and Assembly included these provisions in their one-house budgets, union leaders stressed that the final budget must preserve these commitments to address the recruitment and retention crisis. Without action, they warned, low pay will continue to drive workers out of the field and could destabilize care for New Yorkers with disabilities.
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