Today, just 72 hours before the budget deadline, over 5,000 caregivers and care recipients gathered at the Capitol to turn up the heat on Governor Brown and the legislature, demanding that home care cuts be taken off the table in the current budget debates.
At noon, hundreds of ULTCW members along with other home care providers from SEIU UHW, SEIU Local 521, CUHW and UDW, went into the Capitol and completely overtook the rotunda for 2 hours; the group ovewhelmed all entrances and exits into and out of the building while filling the interior with chants and song. 2 hours later, police arrived to break up the group and arrested 50 people, many of whom were our own ULTCW members.
Outside the Capitol, the remaining few thousand lined up side-by-side, forming a Circle of Care, around the building, in support of their brothers and sisters inside.
Our message today was sent loud and clear throughout Sacramento. Dozens of reporters were on the scene, documenting our actions, and as President Laphonza Butler stated, “Today is not the end of anything. Today is just the beginning for us to demand respect for ourselves, our jobs and our communities.”
