Join us on Wednesday, March 12, 11am
to protest against Governor Hochul’s state-sanctioned violence!
Location: Hochul’s NYC office, 919 3rd Ave, NYC
Why protest Hochul on March 12?
- NY Supreme Court ruled that Hochul’s Department of Labor broke the law by dropping home care workers’ wage theft cases!
- Kathy Hochul, not only did NOTHING to help recover stolen wages for workers of New York, but actually awarded a $7B/year government contract to the worst home care agency Chinese-American Planning Council, who robbed woman-of-color home care workers of more than $90M. That’s a slap in the face of all working people and law-abiding small businesses!
- Chinese-American Planning Council spearheaded the practice of 24-hour workdays and illegally paying only 13 hours. Its former board chair Jenny Low worked as a director of Governor Hochul’s office during the time Hochul’s Department of Labor mysteriously dropped all the cases of CPC workers and workers of other agencies. While many home care agencies have started paying back stolen wages and stopping the inhumane 24-hour workdays, CPC continues to refuse to pay back!
New Yorkers must join workers of all trades to demand Governor Hochul stop the lawlessness and violence!
| Chinese-American Planning Council committed violent NYPD raid on 100 senior home care workers peacefully protesting against $90M wage theft outside lavish gala on Wall St NY, New York – Thursday night, February 27, the Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC) used a brutal NYPD crackdown to attack over 100 women-of-color home care workers picketing outside its decadent 60th Anniversary fundraising gala at Cipriani on Wall Street, committing 7 arrests — including that of a pregnant woman and a 60-year-old senior. |
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 Photo credit: Hilario Martinez |
| “Tonight we have over a hundred of fellow home care workers protesting,” said Ai Yu Zeng, a home care worker who was arrested. “All we’re doing is exposing CPC’s lies! We’re condemning their abuse of us immigrant women with continued 24-hour workdays. Now, CPC not only refuses to pay us back the $90 million stolen wages, but even calls the police to arrest me on the spot! When young people saw that and condemned the police’s violence against me, they, in turn, were also arrested. How evil!” While many home care agencies have already implemented split shifts, CPC still assigns 24-hour home care shifts and just received contracts worth $7 billion a year from Governor Kathy Hochul to monopolize the consumer-direct home care market in NYC, Long Island, and Westchester. Protestors were peacefully picketing on the sidewalk when CPC sent violent cops to suppress protesters and arrest elderly Asian home attendants. “Cops moved in shortly after CPC sent someone to rob a journalist of her live-streaming phone from mid-air, so as to abruptly shut down the media coverage of the protest,” said Sarah Ahn, who was also arrested. “Cops went after the home attendants FIRST, all elderly Asian women!” Photos show CPC Chief of Staff Alice Wong sent a thug to violently snatch a journalist’s phone and walk into the gala with it so the brutal arrests could not be recorded. The perpetrator was Ken Paskar, friend of the corrupt former Assembly Member Sheldon Silver and CPC’s lawyer Alan Gerson. Under people’s continuous outcry over police’s protection of CPC, the police were eventually pressured to arrest Ken Paskar. High-level elected officials crossing the picket line included Chuck Schumer and Grace Meng. “This is CPC’s true face, as they think they are above the law with Governor Hochul’s backing. They’re also run by a board that consists 90% of bank, real estate, and insurance company executives. Instead of paying back wage theft, they are raising more money with their allies of casinos, DoorDash, and lobbyists to oppress immigrant communities,” said Kathy Lu, a working mother who was also arrested. CPC’s violent repression did the opposite of stopping the protest, as home attendants and supporters became more determined and continued to protest for more than an hour, and their furious chants were heard all over Wall Street. The protesters ended by strongly condemning the unlawful crackdown. They also called on everyone to join the protest on March 12 at 11am in front of Governor Hochul’s office (919 3rd Ave) to demand she stop colluding with CPC, enforce the law to pay back stolen wages and end the 24-hour workdays. |
Read home care workers’ open letter to Governor Hochul, which she has made no offer to resolve:
Dear Governor Hochul,
We are home care workers who have worked 24-hour shifts for many years, representing thousands of our sisters in writing this letter to you. Recently, the New York State Supreme Court ruled that the Department of Labor had violated the law and ordered it to enforce the law immediately by pursuing our stolen wages. Therefore, we demand that you immediately stop interfering with the Department of Labor’s investigation into our cases to ensure that we are promptly paid our owed wages!
For many years, we have cared for severely ill patients who urgently need care. We worked 24-hour shifts, staying awake for several consecutive days, yet we only received 13 hours of pay. The Department of Labor had calculated and investigated the back wages for many of our cases, but we have yet to receive our hard-earned money! To make matters worse, you hired the former board chair of the most notorious sweatshop, the Chinese-American Planning Council, and selected CPC to be New York City’s monopoly coordinator of the CDPAP program. This has caused public outrage in the NYC community!
We have decided to unite with workers from all industries and hold a large demonstration at the New York State Department of Labor at 11 AM on December 11th to demand justice and our hard-earned money for the millions of New Yorkers! Therefore, we are writing to urge you to stop interfering with law enforcement and ensure that we are compensated immediately!
NYS Assembly Member Ron Kim and 32 other NYS and NYC elected officials have signed onto a letter to the Department of Labor
The letter urges the DOL to enforce the law to ensure workers get their hard-earned wages! Read it below and check out which elected officials have already signed on! CONTACT YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS TO ASK THEM TO SIGN ON!
What can you do?
Join outreach!
Join workers of all industries flyering across NYC. See calendar below for the schedule and call 212-358-0295 to let us know you’re coming!
Donate
Home attendants have been fighting for 10 years to stop 24-hour workdays. We need everyone’s support to make known to the whole world their stories and determined fight to end the violence!
Help plan and spread the word!
Contact us at 212-358-0295