Home
care workers gathered at City Hall Tuesday, calling for an end to the
24-hour-shifts they often don’t get paid for in full.
In New
York, home care attendants work 24-hour-shifts and often only get paid for 13
of the hours. They spend these hours taking care of patients that can get up
multiple times in the night.
Some
of the attendants cite this job as the
reason many workers in the female- and immigrant-dominated
industry suffer from anxiety, high blood pressure and insomnia.
Council Member Christopher
Marte backed a bill that would guarantee better working
hours and compensation for these attendants. Marte says as of Tuesday morning,
21 City Council members had signed onto the bill.