What’s at stake?
The long-awaited deal delivers a small raise and boost to healthcare benefits for thousands of workers that provide in-home care for roughly 24,000 elderly folks and people with disabilities in Fresno County.
The Fresno County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a new three-year contract for thousands of In-Home Supportive Services workers at its meeting Tuesday.
The agreement raises hourly wages from $17.10 to $18.35 and boosts union-provided health care benefits for about 2,000 of the roughly 25,000 county workers.
The care workers provide in-home care for approximately 24,000 elderly folks and people with disabilities throughout Fresno County.
The board approved the deal in a single vote on Tuesday’s consent agenda without further discussion, capping negotiations that took over two years.
A small group of IHSS workers thanked the board during public comment at the end of the board meeting.
“With the new contract, we finally feel heard,” said Alva Rodriguez, a care worker. “We are looking forward to working with you guys (the Board of Supervisors) to help meet the exploding demand for care that Fresno is facing.”
Since IHSS programs in California are jointly funded by the county, state and federal government, the new contract also awaits approval from the state Department of Social Services, which can take up to 60 days, county documents said.
With state approval, documents show Fresno County’s share of the cost of maintaining the IHSS program will increase from $56,497,158 to approximately $67,226,703 in fiscal year 2025 – a roughly $8.5 million increase.
SEIU Local 2015, the union representing the county’s IHSS workers, called the contract a “major win for the county” in a news release late Tuesday. The union declined to share the percentage of union members that voted to approve the new agreement, stating that “ratification is an internal process.” But spokesperson Terry Carter added that the members “successfully ratified their contract.”
The union previously gave some credit for the long-awaited agreement to the two newest supervisors on the board, Luis Chavez and Garry Bredefeld. SEIU Local 2015 backed Chavez and Bredefeld in their successful bids to oust two incumbents from the board in November 2024.
In a written statement shared with Fresnoland Tuesday afternoon, Chavez called Tuesday’s vote a “turning of the page” at Fresno County.
“We can no longer see bargaining units as adversaries or counter parts, rather partners in serving our most vulnerable residents,” he said. “With the action our board took today, over 25,000 will finally get the respect and dignity they deserve.”
