NYS Gov. Kathy Hochul Jeered as ‘Corrupt’,‘Incompetent’, Or ‘Lazy’
Home care workers rally outside Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office this week demanding she stop trying to block resumption of a Labor Dept. wage theft probe that could potentially rock the industry. Photos/Joe Maniscalco
By Joe Maniscalco
Home care worker Luz Estrella, 73, stood on the sidewalk outside Governor Kathy Hochul’s Third Avenue offices in Manhattan on Wednesday morning, Dec. 17 wondering why the most powerful woman in the state continues to oppose working class women like her fighting hard against wage theft.
“Why are you doing this shameful thing of collaborating and colluding with the insurance companies and the [hiring] agencies to take from us our salaries,” Estrella said this week as an angry group of home care workers and their allies denounced Governor Kathy Hochul as corrupt and called for her resignation.
This, of course, wasn’t the first time Estrella and other home care workers forced to work round-the-clock shifts while only getting paid for roughly half the time have rallied on Hochul’s doorstep.
They were here in March, too, denouncing Governor Hochul’s ongoing efforts to block a $90 billion wage theft probe into New York State’s home care industry as nothing less than institutionalized “violence against women.”
Home care worker Luz Estrella says she is owed more than $286,000.
“This is very simple,” Assembly Member Ron Kim [D-40th District] told protesters on Wednesday morning. “We wrote the law—some of the best laws in the country to protect workers’ rights. All they have to is enforce that law. That’s all we’re asking. That’s it. Why is the Department of Labor fighting so hard not to enforce the most basic law to protect workers’ rights?”
Gui Zhu Chen, 68, said she spent nearly a solid decade working round-the-clock shifts for the Chinese-American Planning Council—one of the most powerful social services organizations in the State of New York—and is owed more than $270,000 in unpaid wages.
“The CPC had the policy that if we didn’t sleep for five hours continuously then they would pay us all the wages,” she told Work-Bites. "I had to sign a form to claim that—and I did. But when I submitted the form to the head nurse at CPC, the head nurse accused me of defrauding the government and said that she would put me in jail for that.”
The legal-fiction justification for paying workers for only 13 hours out of a 24-hour shift is that they’re supposed to get 11 hours off for eating and sleeping.
Now retired and living in Brooklyn where most of her income goes to pay rent, Chen said the CPC ultimately stopped assigning her work and closed her file a few years after her main client passed away in 2019.
A spokesperson for Governor Hochul declined to comment on this story when contacted by Work-Bites—but Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado released a statement read at Wednesday’s rally saying, “Wage theft is not a technical dispute or bureaucratic delay—it’s exploitation.”
Home care worker Gui Zhu Chen is now retired and struggling just to cover the rent on her Brooklyn apartment.
“And when the government fails to enforce the law or appeal a decision that would hold bad actors accountable it sends the wrong message to workers who are already carrying so much,” Delgado’s statement continued. “Every hour worked must be an hour paid. Enforcing labor law is not optional. It’s a moral obligation.”
Democratic District Leader Victoria Fariello also took further aim at the governor.
“We are here to support women who have been protesting and demanding their rights for over a decade,” Fariello said. “As a leader of our state, of our workers, our people—how dare you? All we’re asking for is fairness and justice. The court said, yeah, you’re right. You have a right to have your cases heard. And our female governor—first woman governor—is saying no we don’t want that. We’re saying step down.”
It’s been more than a year since a state Supreme Court Judge Gerald W. Connolly ruled in favor of home care workers demanding the New York State Department of Labor resume investigating their wage theft claims, but Governor Hochul continues to do everything in her power to stop that from happening.
Chris Marte is the lead sponsor of Intro. 615, pending legislation in the New York City Council calling for an end to mandatory round-the-clock shifts in the home care industry. But outgoing City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams [D-28th District] has steadfastly blocked that effort—and as the year comes to a close the “No More 24” bill still has fewer than 20 cosponsors.
“How can you call yourself a governor of low-income women of color? How can you be the first female governor and choose to push working class women out of the equation. That’s a shame,” Council Member Marte told Wednesday’s rally. “
New York State Assembly Member Ron Kim unloads on Gov. Kathy Hochul.
“This is a decision that they made intentionally to appeal,” Council Member Marte added. “You don’t have to do that in a courtroom—and that intention just tells me something. It makes it really clear that they don’t care about us.”
A CPC spokesperson reached for comment following Wednesday’s rally outside Governor Hochul’s office denied the organization retaliates against employees reporting about their work.
“We are committed to treating all employees fairly and in full compliance with labor regulations,” CPC Director of Communications Alice Du told Work-Bites in an email. “Our commitment to transparency and open communication with our employees remains a top priority.”
The spokesperson further said the Chinese-American Planning Council Home Attendant Program [CPCHAP] “serves a set number of home care clients, so reassignment is only possible when an opening occurs, such as when another worker resigns.”
Democratic District Leader Victoria Fariello calls on Gov. Kathy Hochul to step down.
“No home care worker is forced to have 24-hour shifts and it's our goal to accommodate preferred shifts and client assignments to the extent that caseload and Medicaid allow,” Du added.
The Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program [CDPAP] is a New York State Medicaid program designed to make it possible for home care eligible recipients to choose and hire their own personal caregiver, or “personal assistant.”
Last year, the CPC became the the sole recipient of CDPAP contracts in NYC, Westchester, and Long Island after Governor Kathy Hochul’s office awarded the organization with $7 billion contract working directly with the PPL—the statewide manager.
“The governor is hearing us now. I know she’s hearing us,” Assembly Member Kim continued. “Either she’s corrupt, incompetent, or lazy. I don’t think she’s lazy. I don’t think she’s incompetent because I think she knows the issue right now because we’ve been in front of her for months now. So, if she doesn’t do the right thing there’s only one answer—and that’s she’s corrupt. We need to hold her accountable.”