Missouri Home Care Workers Ratify Wage-Hike Contract

Home care attendants in Missouri’s consumer-directed services program ratified a contract on December 8 that will allow their consumers to raise their wages.

Under the terms of the contract, consumers will have the option to raise their attendant’s pay to as high as $10.15 an hour, up from a current average wages of just $8.58 an hour.

The contract, which the workers tentatively agreed to in October, does not require a raise in the state’s Medicaid reimbursement rates to vendors.

A full breakdown of the contract is available at the website of the Missouri Home Care Union (MCHU), which represents the home care attendants.

Although the decision to raise individual attendants’ wages ultimately rests with consumers, the choice to do so is easy, said home care consumer Kyle Auxier.

“Without my attendant I can’t live the life I want to live,” he was quoted as saying on the MHCU website. “I’ll definitely pay my attendants as much as I can, and I believe given the opportunity, my fellow consumers in the program feel the same way.”

As many as 12,000 attendants could be affected by the new contract, an MCHU press release said.

The MCHU is affiliated with both the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

— by Matthew Ozga