Home Health Care Workers from New Haven Lobby for Insurance, Sick Time, as Hartford Protest Prompts Mass Arrests

by Ben Lambert, New Haven Register, April 9, 2021

Anthony Ligon and Terrell Williams, both New Haven residents, provide comfort and care for others as home health care workers. But they don’t have health insurance of their own. They and fellow members of SEIU District 1199, a chapter of the New England Health Care Employees Union, called for legislators to grant them that level of support and stability Thursday at the state Capitol in Hartford, staging a protest that ended with the arrests of 20 people, according to state police.

Ligon and Williams said Friday they attended the rally in hopes of securing benefits such as health insurance, sick time, vacation time and other benefits. The union has called for the state legislature to pass legislation that raises the minimum wage for such workers to $20 per hour by 2023 and create a pathway to affordable health care.

“We are long-term home care (workers) without long-term benefits,” Ligon said. “We were pretty much there to fight for some basic human rights.”

Read the entire article at https://www.ctinsider.com/news/nhregister/article/Home-health-care-workers-from-New-Haven-lobby-for-16089557.php.

Articles, video and photos are on Facebook page of SEIU 1199 New England