Inyo County Caregivers Rally to Demand Living Wages and Healthcare After Two Years Without a Contract
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Inyo County Caregivers Rally to Demand Living Wages and Healthcare After Two Years Without a Contract
Workers call for urgent investment in care as County fails to respond to crisis and national Medicaid threats loom
Inyo, CA – On September 2, 2025, Inyo County home caregivers joined by community allies, rallied outside the Inyo County Board of Supervisors to provide testimony during public comment to demand livable wages and healthcare after two years without a contract.
Inyo County IHSS (In-Home Supportive Services) providers care for older adults and people with disabilities, helping them live safely with dignity and respect at home. Yet despite this critical and essential work home care workers provide, they are paid just $17.25 an hour, far below the $22.10 an hour rate needed for a single adult to survive in Inyo County. For caregivers raising children, the gap is even wider: a family with one child would need $40.47 an hour to get by, according to MIT’s Living Wage Calculator.
While the demand for caregivers continues to grow, Inyo County leadership has failed to come to the table with a dignified counterproposal, offering only a few cents in wage increases and no plan for healthcare. With a contract left open for nearly two years, caregivers say the crisis is pushing workers out of the profession and threatening the quality of care across the county.
Inyo County caregivers are leaving the industry for better paying jobs, while over a quarter of home care workers report leaving the county entirely due to the high cost of living. Without livable wages, care hours are going unfilled and residents are losing the support they desperately need.
“It’s time for Inyo County to invest in home care,” said Gina Martinez, an Inyo County IHSS worker. “Care is essential and when I was out on medical leave, one of my care recipients nearly lost her life after being placed in a nursing home because she didn’t have the adequate care she needed. Today, too many care hours are going unused, and caregivers are leaving for competitive paying jobs. The demand for care is only growing, yet low wages are driving dedicated workers away. It’s time to attract and retain the care workforce in Inyo County.”
“This Labor Day, let’s get back to what the holiday is meant to be about: empowering workers and working families,” said SEIU 2015 Executive Vice President Marcus Mc Rae Alexander. “For Inyo County caregivers, that needs to start with a strong contract and better recognition of all the hard work they put in to take care of their recipients. Like everywhere else in California, Inyo is currently experiencing a care crisis. The only way out of that care crisis is by empowering caregivers, and to do that, they need livable wages, adequate healthcare, and respect from those in power.”
This rally highlighted the urgency of the care crisis across Inyo County. As cuts to Medicaid threaten rural hospitals and home care services nationwide, caregivers are sounding the alarm and demanding local leaders to step up to protect their community by investing in the care workforce.
To learn more about SEIU Local 2015 visit www.SEIU2015.org or @SEIU2015 on social media.
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As I read this and recognize how difficult it is to live in this valley with a minimum wage income, I see the federal government trying to remove minimum wage requirements for healthcare and childcare workers. “The workman deserves his wages”. That is biblical, yet those in power want to rob these essential workers of a living wage. it is a sad statement on our society.