Home Healthcare Workers Cheated

How do the money people get very, very rich off the backs of the poorest Have Nots? Well, one reason is labor laws or the lack of labor laws in any case, the government is involved, which usually means highly paid lobbyists work for the very rich and against the poor. These are the lobbyists who fight against the $15 to $18 an hour minimum wage—the restaurant workers’ pay, farm workers’ pay and overtime, and home health aide workers. Most of the wage slaves do not even earn federal minimum wage, but the people who have moved into the International Franchise Association (IFA) are getting very rich off the back of these workers—as usual. Whenever there is a push back against the $15 to $18 an hour, it’s usually the IFA there helping the likes of McDonalds, or suing the federal government to keep home health aides from earning a minimum wage and overtime. According to an August 2014 study in the Journal of Health Affairs, 62 percent of the home health care industry now consists of for profit franchises. Instead of selling burgers or pizza, for profit home care staffing sell the care of seniors and disabled citizens once received in nursing homes. The American home care work force was left out of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in 1938, and again when Congress amended the FLSA in 1974. Thanks to the Companionship Exemption campaigns in 29 states, companies can legally pay care workers less than the $7.25 minimum wage, but franchisors, such as BrightStar run by chief financial officer Shelly Sun, who is IFA treasurer, has struck gold. Sun and her husband say they have no medical, home care or health care experience when they started or needed any. It is federal dollars paid to the IFA members who, in turn, use it to pay their workers. However, the IFA members can pay their workers whatever amount they want. There is no public accountability and this is bleeding Medicare. This is the third fastest growing occupation in the country, according to Forbes magazine. The wage slaves need to know who their enemies are. As the Art of War says, know yourself and you will win half of your battles—know yourself and your enemy and you will probably win all your battles. Some years ago in Sacramento, California, a bill board read, Zookeepers get paid more than home health care workers. You can also look at it this way, most zoos require their keepers to have a bachelor’s degree; the home health care has no requirements so we ensure the care animals receive is a greater quality than our elders or disable receive.