Direct Care Update: Making our voices heard for fair pay!

The budget proposed by Gov. Pritzker last month includes a $0.50 per hour increase for DSP wages, but we know we deserve more!

We work hard to serve our individuals. We show up day after day. We need to let lawmakers know: We Care, We Count!

The governor’s budget also proposes cutting the CILA reimbursement rate that our employers receive. If this proposal passes, it could create problems for direct care employees at the bargaining table.  

We must stand together to demand lawmakers fully fund disability services, and press for a bigger wage increase with strong language requiring employers to pass those funds on to workers.

We’ve made so much progress in recent years—we need state legislators to know that we won’t go backwards!

How do we make our voices heard?

There's one thing you can do right now that will send a message to lawmakers—and it only takes a second.

Sign the petition telling lawmakers DSPs deserve fair pay!

Once you’ve signed it, make sure to send it to your coworkers too!

Save the Date: Direct Care Lobby Day is on April 30! Join direct care employees from across the state to lobby lawmakers for a fair wage increase at the state Capitol! RSVP today!

Call-in days coming up soon!

One of the most powerful ways we make our voices heard is by banding together to call our state legislators and telling them how important it is that they raise our wages.

Your AFSCME local union will be organizing a call-in day in the coming weeks where you and your coworkers will come together and call your local elected officials to ask them to fully fund disability services in Illinois and raise our wages!

Make sure you make the call when your local union leaders reach out to you! We’re stronger and more powerful when we stand together.