The Direct Care News 
For direct care workers and their allies March 20, 2012
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We Just Turned in Our Comment; Now It's Your Turn
|  The comment period on the proposed rule ends tomorrow, so now is the time to urge the Department of Labor to do the right thing, if you haven't done so yet.
We just did. The DCA's comment to the Department of Labor, which it submitted yesterday, concludes:
There is absolutely no policy justification for excluding home care workers--who belong to the fastest growing workforce in our nation--from minimum wage and overtime protections while covering virtually all other workers. On the contrary, we should capitalize on this opportunity to help rebuild our middle class by making these jobs more attractive.
DCA greatly appreciates DOL's review of this issue and strongly urges it to promptly finalize the proposed regulations.
Now's your chance. Go to the comment submission web page before the end of the day tomorrow and tell DOL that home care workers deserve basic labor protections.
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Direct from Washington, DC
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House hearing on home care regs today at 10 a.m.: The U.S. House of Representatives Education and the Workforce subcommittee on Workforce Protections is hosting a hearing at 10 o'clock this morning on the potential impact of the Department of Labor's proposed regulations to extend federal minimum wage and overtime protections to home care workers. While the majority of the witnesses testifying at the hearing oppose the proposed regulations, DCA and 86 other organizations submitted a statement in support of minimum wage and overtime protections for home care workers. Watch the hearing live.
Sign petition for equal health care for women: The National Women's Law Center, in partnership with several other national organizations, has launched a campaign to protect women's health care and the benefits provided to women through the Affordable Care Act. Learn more and sign the petition. Local, state and national organizations weigh in on budget debate: With Congress in the midst of its Fiscal Year 2013 budget debate, DCA joined over 900 organizations in submitting a letter to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees urging them to provide the largest possible budget allocation for health, education, job training, and social services programs. The letter also requests that the House and Senate work together to prevent further cuts from happening.
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Speaking Up for the Work That I Love
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 | Brenda Nachtway
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On a brisk but beautiful morning early this month, I walked through Washington, D.C. to the building where my congressman, Thomas Marino, has his office. I was there, on behalf of the Direct Care Alliance, to ask his support for the proposed rule to extend minimum wage and overtime protections to home care workers. As I walked past our nation's Capitol and watched the American flag move in the light breeze, I was reminded of how lucky we are to live in the United States. I also thought about the many direct care workers I have met in my advocacy work who told me they could never take a trip like this. Some are just too busy, working two or three jobs and raising a family. But often, it seems to me, the real barrier is that the work they do is so widely disrespected and misunderstood that even they don't quite believe it's worth fighting for. Read more from Brenda Nachtway.
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