The uniform is a nice touch. Who wears a uniform to take care of their own child?
RE: “Here is la petite fleur with her mouth perpetually open at a SEIU United Healthcare Workers (UHW) rally in Fresno on May 31, 2009. She (it?) may not be a union official, but it’s clear it (she?) is a union activist & crony. Bottom line?...Shaddup you phony!”
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Is that her son? He can stand up — and walk? Why is he not in special needs classes held at public schools?
Did I miss the part where this woman has a REAL job somewhere? Without scrolling back to see more details, I’m guessing caring for her son is her idea of a ‘job’ instead of her motherly duty.
A pox on this woman — she should be embarrassed to show her face in public.
Letters To The Editor section
‘Hard work, not magic’
Published online on Friday, Jun. 05, 2009
Florine Furlow is a fellow homecare provider in Fresno with an interesting perspective [Valley Voices May 30] regarding the upcoming election over union representation for In-Home Supportive Service workers.
Yes, the civil rights movement correlates well with disabled and elderly people being supported to live in their own homes.
Tragic and devastating cuts are being proposed that could change home care for all time. Ms. Furlow seems to feel those former leaders of our local have “magic” to stop these cuts.
What stopped them from taking action? Why weren’t they using their magic before Feb. 2, while they were in power and before they voluntarily resigned to form a different union?
I’m choosing to fight to protect the aged and those with disabilities, like my son. He, like so many others, may well end up in a long-term institutional placement if services are cut and is a plaintiff in a class action lawsuit brought by our union, UHW-SEIU, against our governor and county to seek an injunction from July’s planned cuts.
We need to unite to fight back together against these cuts. Let’s join arms and redouble efforts to turn this around. It’s hard work, not magic. Tomorrow may be too late!
Lisa Brown
Fresno
Cuts to In Home Health Care Providers
By Nancy Osborne
04/28/09
Fresno, CA (KFSN) — A different health issue plaguing Fresno County isn’t illness but the pay cut facing its in home health care providers on July 1st. And it had many of those workers packed into the Hall of Records for the Board of Supervisors meeting in late April. The subject was a pay cut and the employees like Lisa Brown came away empty handed.
She’s a single mom and is the in home health care provider for her son Alexander who was born with Downs’s syndrome. Brown is paid 11 dollars and change an hour for just six hours a day. California reimburses Fresno County for the work she does with state funds. Lisa quit her job to stay home with her son 24 hours a day and said, “Lives depend on this service.”
When she appeared before the Board on Tuesday she explained whey she chose, “I care for my son who’s cognitively disabled. He has Down’s syndrome.” She added that. “It keeps Alexander at home and out of institutional care.”
Brown was one of many voices asking the Fresno County Board of Supervisors to make up the state reduction of their hourly wages, arguing federal stimulus money will help pay for it. Reverend Samuel Thompson, himself an in home health care provider joined her, “So we have to take care of ‘em and you all have the power and the ability to not cut the wages.”
Story continues belowAdvertisementReverend Thompson and Lisa Brown are like more than fifty percent of these workers. They are a family member taking care of a family member. The large group of these employees took turns asking the board to support their work helping keep the disabled, elderly and sick at home and out of far more expensive group home or institutional care. Linda told Action News why this work is so valuable, “People’s very lives are in the hands of these workers who maybe only paid for a couple of hours of care.”
But with California facing serious budget problems, the state wanted Fresno County to accept cuts to the program by May 1st that will lower wages to ten dollars an hour. No one on the board liked their options. Supervisor Henry Perea noted, “This is just a really difficult situation to be in. I think we could do better. I think we could do different.” Supervisor Judy Case agreed but didn’t see how at this point, “As much as I and everybody else would like to provide something better, in this economy, everybody’s tightening their belt.”
A three to two vote ended Tuesday’s debate in Fresno County which chose to accept the State’s reduction in the hourly wage for it’s in home health care providers on July 1st.
But these union workers say Federal Stimulus dollars can be used to change that plan and vow to keep the pressure on at the State Capitol.