Showing we care

Opinion: July 12, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

By Sarita Gupta

McClatchy-Tribune

One hundred years ago, Congress passed a law mandating an eight-hour day for all workers with federal contracts. This law, along with others ushered in two decades later during the New Deal, gave significant protection to a part of our work force.

But not to everyone.

Tens of millions of men and women — independent contractors, domestic workers, interns, temps and farmworkers — are vastly contributing to our nation’s economy yet are to this day denied minimum hours, overtime pay or benefits on the job. A staggering 2.5 million of these unprotected workers are those who provide critical care to the elderly and disabled in their homes.

While 21 states and the District of Columbia provide some minimum wage and overtime coverage for these workers, far too many are left with nothing. Because the majority of home-care workers lack the right to form unions and the chance of improving their situation, they are also left at the mercy of their employers and can often find themselves barely making ends meet and unable to live a dignified quality of life.

Low wages

Shameful, substandard working conditions aren’t good for home-care employees, they aren’t good for your loved ones and they aren’t good for society. Without minimum wage and overtime protections, the home-care work force endures low wages, high turnover, stress and exhaustion.

Thankfully, in an effort to both improve these jobs and the quality of care provided, the Obama administration has proposed a rule that would extend minimum wage and overtime protections to home-care workers. That rule is long overdue.

We all have a responsibility to ensure the economy works for everyone. We shouldn’t turn our backs on this fundamental opportunity to extend basic rights — rights we often take for granted — for the people who provide meaningful care for our loved ones.

Sarita Gupta is the executive director of Jobs with Justice and serves on the board of American Rights at Work. She wrote this for Progressive Media Project, a source of liberal commentary on domestic and international issues; it is affiliated with The Progressive magazine. Distributed by MCT Information Services.