As the sun began to rise Thursday, a group of home care workers carried signs and yelled "Home care counts! Home care counts!" into a microphone, hoping to catch the attention of morning commuters and customers.
Nick Gurich of the Service Employees International Union led the group with chants and speeches. He says, the fight to increase pay that began last year with fast food workers nationwide also resonates with home care workers.
"The stories that we hear from home care workers and the stories we hear from McDonalds workers, they are exactly the same. They all make about $8.50 to $9 an hour. They all have to buy uniforms from their employer..." Gurich says.
And, he says, most of the jobs do not come with health insurance.
Jasmin Almodovar has worked as a home health aide for 11 years. The care she provides, she says, is worth much more than the current pay.
"Enough is enough, we work hard and without us, how are people going to survive?" Almodovar says.
Industry sources say they are constrained by the state and federal Medicaid reimbursement system, which pays the bulk of home health care costs and, they say, it allows little wiggle room for pay.
Sarah Jane Tribble, 90.3