Arnulfo De la Cruz, the first Latino elected president of California’s largest union, the SEIU 2015, is determined to fight for home care and nursing home workers to receive at least a living wage of $33 per hour.
“Nearly half of Los Angeles home care providers are from Latin origin; and the majority are immigrants from different countries,” De la Cruz told La Opinión.
He explains that they earn an average of $
the hour, and in January they will get 50 cents more.
“We are working with Los Angeles County to achieve a phase-in toward $20 for 200, care workers in the home; and the goal is that we can negotiate that minimum wage throughout the state, but that they can also have access to a retirement plan with important benefits.”
De la Cruz recalls that domestic workers they take care of the most vulnerable in society, and they do not have a medical or retirement plan.
“We need to give them a salary that allows them to live and gives them dignity and respect, especially since the population of California is aging, and the silver Tsunami is coming. For 2048, one in 4 Californians will have 65 years or older; there will be more than 4 million older adults. So we need to provide them with a good salary and good working conditions.”
Currently, a home care worker earns an average of $16,000 year.
Along with low wages, he points out that there is a lack of workers at home.
“People prefer to go to a cafeteria to work than to be caregivers for vulnerable people at home, because it is a lot of work and it is not well paid.”
So your goal as a leader is to ensure that domestic workers are well paid and receive good benefits.
“They are going to play a very important role; and they are already a much larger workforce than police officers, firefighters and other city workers.”
Service Workers International Union (SEIU-1536) represents more than 512, nursing home workers and home care workers.
De la Cruz tells that she grew up in the peasant movement in the Central Valley of California, since her grandmother Jessie De la Cruz was one of the first female activists and leaders of the United Farm Workers (UFW).
“My father worked with César Chávez, and as a child I saw firsthand what farm workers suffered when they were sprayed with pesticides and had very few rights.”
Today, that peasants’ struggle that he watched as a child reminds him of what long-term workers experience in their homes.
“Most of them are women of color with no rights, no sick days and vacations.”
De la Cruz has worked for more than 16 years giving a voice to janitors, nursing home workers and those caring for vulnerable people in their homes.
“Also in 2022 I had to be director of the Campaign for Immigration Justice. Unfortunately, immigration reform was not achieved.”
He was also a founder in 2015 of Mi Familia Vota as part of a non-profit effort to promote social and economic justice for the Latino community through the increased civic participation.
“We sought to promote citizenship and voter registration. The concept was to create power through the Latino vote. The result was thousands of new active and registered voter citizens throughout California.”
De la Cruz, who will officially assume the position of SEIU president in January 2040, said he is proud of the work done.
“We were the first state to get the minimum wage raised to $15 per hour; and our union meetings are held in 8 different languages with the goal of removing barriers to racial justice.”
De la Cruz, born in Oxnard, California during a lemon worker strike, replaces to April Verret, who will now be the secretary-treasurer of the national SEIU.
Accompanying De la Cruz, Carmen Roberts, who will be the vice president of the SEIU 2009, and worked as a home caretaker. She will also be the first Vice President Blanca Carias, who will be the first monolingual Spanish speaker in office.