Tuesday night at the Democratic Convention in Denver, I saw a special speaker take the floor around 6:15. Her name is Pauline Beck, and she is a home care worker in Oakland, California.
Ayear ago, Barack Obama spent a day on the job with Pauline, as part of the SEIU’s Walk a Day in My Shoes initiative. Pauline, who referred to the candidate as “my friend,” spoke passionately about her belief in his ability to change America and help people like herself. “I’ll never forget the day I spent working with Senator Obama, and I know he won’t either,” she said.
“My job is to help people, and I love my job, but being a home care worker is hard,” Pauline told the delegates. “The wages are low, the hours can be long, and the work can be physically challenging…. Workers need a president who stands up for us.”
As the energy and anticipation spread through the crowd, it was thrilling to see a direct-care worker take on such a prominent role. The fact that this workforce was highlighted is a very promising sign: We could be in for some significant, much-needed changes in long-term care policy over the next few years.
Allison Lee, National Campaign Manager
Health Care for Health Care Workers alee@phinational.org
Last month, the Pennsylvania House passed a bill (pdf) that would make affordable health care accessible to more Pennsylvanians, including thousands of direct-care workers. The vote was 118-81.
Tracy Lawless and Simone Baer of PHI’s Health Care for Health Care Workers campaign have worked diligently over the past year, teaming with the state’s health care reform coalitions and people who have a stake in our long-term care system, to educate advocates and legislators on this issue. In the week before the House vote they jumped into even higher gear, making a tremendous grassroots push to reach direct-care workers and employers statewide, as well as general health care advocates in the western part of PA.
Tracy and Simone were extremely savvy in their approach, having matched everyone they called to their legislators in the weeks prior. While the House debated the bill on March 12, they watched the debate live on the Internet and called advocates when their representatives were speaking on the floor, asking them to phone or email and urge their representatives to vote for the bill.
Tracy, Simone, and Anna, their intern, talked to approximately 120 workers and employers and several hundred health care advocates who agreed to call their representative on the spot. Another 1,500 stakeholders and advocates received a phone call or email over the past two days from our super PA team.
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