Real Talk: NYC Home Care Workers 'Bout to Starve Over Some BS Wages
These frontline workers, mostly Black and brown women, ain't playin' no more with them whack 13-hour checks for 24-hour work.

Aight, listen up. This ain't no game. Them home care workers in NYC, the ones holdin' down our grandmas and aunties, they 'bout to risk it all. Why? 'Cause these agencies playin' dirty, only payin' 'em for 13 hours when they pullin' them 24-hour shifts. Straight up robbery, fam. They done tried talkin', they done marched, now they starvin' to make a point. This ain't a drill.
Them folks over at City Hall been draggin' they feet on the No More 24 Act, supposed to split them shifts so folks ain't workin' theyselves to death. But nah, they too busy worryin' 'bout them downtown developers. Zishun Ning from the Chinese Staff and Workers Association said they comin' back harder, and bet. 'Cause when you ain't got nothin' to lose, you gotta fight for what's right. This ain't just 'bout money, it's 'bout respect.
See, they call it 'sleep and meal time' for them other 11 hours, but who sleepin' when they gotta flip Auntie every two hours so she don't get bedsores? Who eatin' when they gotta make sure lil' bruh take his meds on time? This ain't rest, this is straight exploitation. Christopher Marte, the Council member pushin' for the change, he get it. But need more folks on his side. This ain't just a Black and brown thing, this 'bout treatin' workers right, period.
Home care a whole $13 billion industry in NYC, but who seein' that money? Not the folks doin' the real work. It's mostly immigrant women holdin' it down, sendin' money back home, tryna make a life. And they gettin' played. Two-thirds of 'em immigrants, dependin' on these jobs just to eat and see a doctor. They get threatened if they don't take them overnight gigs. That's some Mafia-level pressure.
Lai Yee Chan, this 71-year-old sista, been in the game since them garment factories shut down after 9/11. She told 'em straight, ain't no time to sleep when you gotta take care of folks who can't take care of theyselves. We talkin' dementia, disabilities, the whole nine. She wit' 1199SEIU, the union, but even they ain't got enough juice to fix this mess overnight. This fight bigger than one union, this 'bout power.
This some straight up David vs. Goliath situation, but David gotta slingshot loaded this time. We talkin' hunger strikes, lawsuits, legislation – they throwin' everything they got at this. But real talk, it shouldn't even be this hard. Pay these workers what they worth, they holdin' down the whole damn city.

