Demo Organizing Call Opposing Mandatory 75 Hour Training Friday, March 21, at 12noon Call in number: 1 (619) 326-2730 Access code: 971-4723 Remember the Brentwood Two! Cynde Soto and Lillibeth Navarro went to Arnold Schwarzeneggers house to oppose cuts to IHSS. We begin this call for demonstrations with their noble example which shows that its far better to go down in flames fighting for a righteous cause, even if it is only a few of you. So if you feel insecure about organizing a demonstration in your town: dont! Besides by talking to all of your fellow IHSS consumers, IHSS workers and local activists we are sure you will have a fabulous demonstration! Dont forget any and all of your local activist groups can be allies. (ie California Partnership, CARA, Rual Caranza and Occupy Wallstreet.) Alright after much bloodshed, the statement committee has come in out with a statement that is a condensation of the Senior Disability Action paper that so brilliantly brought us all together. Here is a sample press release that you can use or not use to fashion your own press release for your city. We will meet talk at 12 noon on the same conference call line to have our last group organizing meeting before we separate into our separate city demonstrations. The agenda, press release sample, statement of purpose, minutes of last meeting and Cyndes Simple outline for organizing press confference/demo are pasted after that. Your Sisters in Struggle for a better day for all workers and consumers in the IHSS community! Hear you tomorrow – Nancy and Cynde. AGENDA ITEMS: I. How to expand your numbers with other local groups and coalition. 2. Agreeing on your cities protest signs. 3. Does your demonstration want to have a civil disobedience element to it. 4. for those who are not organized before . 5. Select Co Captains for cities that dont have them yet PRESS RELEASE: Who: IHSS consumers and workers. What: Press Conference and Demonstration Opposing 75 Hours of Mandatory Training Ballot Initiative. Where: UHW – SEIU headquarters in your town. When: April 2, 2014, 12 noon Why: Members of SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) have submitted a state ballot initiative proposing mandatory training and a wage increase for In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) workers. If passed, this initiative would require all IHSS workers in California to undergo 75 hours of mandatory training. If providers do not complete this training within the allotted times they would not be able to work in the IHSS program. We are concerned that this will greatly burden IHSS workers and potentially deprive seniors and people with disabilities and their workers of the relationships they have come to enjoy. We are also concerned that our part-time workers will not want to work for us, if they have to go through the onerous burden of 75 hours of mandatory training, added to this already difficult job. We wholeheartedly approve of increased wages for IHSS providers but we do not endorse the mandatory training. The cornerstone of IHSS is the consumer directed foundation of the program. In-home supportive services vary widely, ranging from domestic work, to intimate personal care. Most of us were trained in our care at the time of our disabling conditions by hospital personnel and have taught that training to subsequent providers. General classroom training seems, of marginal value to us while it’s estimated cost of upwards of $500,000,000 would be better spent paying our workers to care for seniors and people with disabilities. This initiative was put forward by SEIU-UHW without outreach and communication with the communities who will be affected by it. Also, the fact that it is being sought through the ballot rather than the legislative process means community concerns cannot be addressed. We oppose the 2014 Home Care Workers Act, and urge SEIU-UHW to withdraw the ballot proposal. Nathon Loose, a man with quadriplegia in Washington state where a similar initiative was passed: Your majority voters will NOT know the impacts of SEIU involvement in policy change. SEIU found funding for the training...at the expense of taking 10% or 25 hours of care from me and others. Petition Opposing the Training Requirement: snurl/ihss75hr For a more in-depth position statement, on which ours was based, see snurl/sda.position Contact: Los Angeles Organizers are Cynde Soto & Nancy Becker Kennedy at 323 3xx-xxxx Statement to pass out: Stop the Mandatory IHSS Training Proposal: One Size Does Not Fit All! SEIU-UHW Home Care Workers Act does not represent the needs of home care workers, seniors, and people with disabilities. Members of SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) have submitted a state ballot initiative proposing mandatory training and a wage increase for In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) workers, who provide essential services to seniors and people with disabilities. If passed, this initiative would require all IHSS workers in California to undergo 75 hours of mandatory training. If providers do not complete this training within the allotted times they would not be able to work in the IHSS program. We wholeheartedly support increased wages for IHSS providers, but we oppose the mandatory training requirement. Any additional training must be optional. IHSS is legally mandated to be person centered and individualized. A one size fits all standardized training does not meet this requirement. The IHSS program is designed so that the consumer is the one in charge. The cornerstone of IHSS is the consumer directed foundation of the program. In-home supportive services vary widely, ranging from domestic work, to intimate personal care that cannot be taught by a stranger. Seniors and people with disabilities are experts on their own lives. We are concerned that this ballot initiative aims to place service expertise in the hands of the provider as opposed to the consumer. This proposal, by mandating standardized medical training that makes no mention of the consumer’s right to choose, is contradictory to the entire social model of IHSS. This initiative was put forward by SEIU-UHW without outreach and communication with the communities who will be affected by it. Also, the fact that it is being sought through the ballot rather than the legislative process means community concerns cannot be addressed. Additionally, there is no funding mechanism associated with this proposal. The most urgent priority for IHSS is the restoration of the hours that have been cut year after year in this program. We are concerned that this initiative will undermine the ability to restore those cuts. We oppose the 2014 Home Care Workers Act. We urge SEIU-UHW to withdraw the ballot proposal, and ask voters not to endorse it. Please do endorse the petition opposing the training requirement: snurl/ihss75hr For a more in-depth analysis of the initiative that we agree with, see: snurl/sda.position Heres a simple how to put together a press event. Before event: 1. Decide on location - go to the site and look around and check out: a. accessibility b. traffic - pedestrian & vehicle c. noise level 2. Decide on theme or street theater activity a. gather supplies for activity if you will have one 3. Write up Talking Points, press release, produce poster board signage and agenda for press event 4. Find speakers 5. Decide on roles for event - facilitator, crowd control, spokesperson(s) to talk to press, street theater participants 6. Outreach - make phone calls, use social media, distribute press release Day of Event 1. Get there early! 2. Set up staging area with podium and or sound equipment 3. Prepare area for street theater 4. Gather together street theater participants, facilitator and speakers 5. Distribute poster board signs 6. Start event on time!
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 22:41:52 +0000
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