The Ain’t I A Woman!? Campaign Proudly Supports Council Member Christopher Marte’s “No More 24” Act (Intro-0175-2022) and Urges its Immediate Passage by New York City Council

The Ain’t I A Woman!? Campaign proudly supports Council Member Christopher Marte’s “No More 24” Act (Intro 0175-2022), which is a critical step toward ending the inhumane, racist 24-hour workday in New York State’s homecare industry. For years, home care agencies have forced thousands of workers, mostly immigrant women of color, to work 24-hour shifts, often on back-to-back days. These brutal shifts cause irreparable physical, psychological, and social damage to home care workers, as well as reduce the quality of care provided to vulnerable patients. With the passage of Int. 0175-2022, agencies will be mandated to split all 24-hour shifts into 12-hour assignments, be prohibited from assigning consecutive shifts, and be required to cap home attendants’ weekly schedules at 50 hours.

While it should be obvious, no worker should be required to work a twenty-four hour shift to make a living. Home care provision is laborious work that is both physically and emotionally demanding. Having to be vigilant to patients’ conditions at all hours of day and night, home attendants are often sleep deprived and sustain injuries due to inadequate rest and recuperation. This is dangerous to the health of both workers and patients.

“I’m mentally fatigued and hurt all over from working nearly two decades of working twenty-four hour shifts. My hands, my fingers, and my shoulder and back hurt. Even today, my joints hurt all the time and I frequently need headache relief medication. Sleep is so difficult. I wake up frequently in the middle of the night.” - Ms. Chen, former home care worker, Chinese-American Planning Council Home Attendant Program

Over the years, workers have raised concerns about the physical and mental toll of the 24-hour shift. In response, home attendants have experienced retaliation and threats from employers, as well as delay from the state government, which has decided to allow employers to continue breaking the law (1).

If passed into law, Int. 0175-2022 will ensure that workers in the home care industry are not exploited to work unduly long hours in New York City. The Ain’t I a Woman!? Campaign believes Int. 0175-2022 is also essential for the sustainability of the home care industry. By discontinuing the grueling 24-hour shift assignments, the city would make home care industry jobs more desirable for prospective workers, alleviating the problem of labor shortage. In addition, the bill would also help significantly cut back the public medical spending required to care for a workforce that’s highly exposed to occupational injury when they retire, as 24-hour workdays only breed chronic diseases. 

While Int. 0175-2022 does not address agencies and insurance companies stealing 11 hours of wages in every 24-hour shift, it would prevent the scenario entirely by splitting all 24-hour cases into 12-hour shifts. With better rested and better paid workers, patient care and demand are all but certain to increase. Indeed, Int. 0175-2022 is much-need both for workers and for patients.

(1) See Report by Office of Assemblymember Kim, https://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/Ron-Kim/story/100283