UJC Workers Letter Calling for Support

November 15, 2021

Dear friends and supporters,

We are home care workers who have worked for the United Jewish Council (UJC). We call on all workers and supporters to join us in demanding that UJC stop the racist violence of the 24-hour shift. We took these jobs because UJC told us 24 hours or nothing. These 24-hour shifts have destroyed our mental and physical health, strained our marital and family relations, and robbed us of precious time. Many of us are older and retired and still suffer the consequences of years of these 24-hour shifts. Are we subjected to such violence because we are women of color, because we are immigrants? How racist!

For more than 5 years, we have been demanding UJC to stop the 24-hour workday and to pay us back our stolen wages, as we were paid for only 13 hours of each 24-hour shift. UJC has refused to do either. Now, some non-union home care agencies are stopping the 24-hour workday, and paying back workers 5.5 hours of the 11 hours of unpaid wages for each 24-hour shift, and some even more than 11 hours. How is it that non-union home care agencies have done this but UJC--a unionized agency--has not?! Does UJC want to destroy the lives of unionized workers?

We call on all home care workers to join us and demand UJC stop the racist violence against women workers of color! Join us to end the 24-hour workday now, replacing them with split shifts, and pay back our stolen wages.

We invite everyone who wants to stop racist violence to join us in ending the 24-hour workday.

  • Come to the protest, Thursday, December 16, 11am, at UJC, 500 A Grand St., NY, NY 10002. Let us know you’re coming by contacting us, c/o Ain’t I a Woman?! Campaign at (212) 358-0295, or at aiwcampaign@gmail.com & bring your own sign condemning UJC’s racist violence against the workers, and to demand the end of the 24-hour workday;

  • Contact us at (212) 358-0295 or aiwcampaign@gmail.com to join planning for the event this coming Sunday, 11/21 and to help spread the word about the protest.

 Sincerely,

Carmen Carrasco, UJC worker representative
Epifania Hichez, UJC worker representative
Seferina Acosta, UJC worker representative

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