Eliseo Medina, Executive Vice President for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and Trustee for SEIU-United Healthcare Workers-West (SEIU UHW), announced the filing of a class-action lawsuit on behalf of homecare clients who face being forced out of their homes and into nursing homes if previously approved wage cuts go forward on July 1.

"Today, together with the homecare consumers who face being forced from their homes, we are filing a class action lawsuit to stop the cuts in their tracks, stated Eliseo Medina at the rally. "We are all here today to send a clear message to Governor Schwarzenegger and the Fresno County Board of Supervisors: Balancing budgets on the backs of seniors, people with disabilities and those who care for them is unacceptable."

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California by homecare consumers, SEIU Locals UHW, ULTCW, 521, and the California State Council, seeks a preliminary injunction to prevent the State and Fresno County from implementing the planned wage reductions, alleging that they violate federal laws designed to protect seniors and people with disabilities.

The lawsuit names Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, John Wagner, Director of Social Services, David Maxwell-Jolly, Director of Healthcare Services, John Chiang, State Controller, and Fresno County as defendants.

"If they cut my son's wages, he'll have to find another job," said 55 year-old Fresno resident Xia Lee. "How will I get by without him?"

The Governor's current proposed budget cuts would slash the hours of care seniors and people with disabilities receive and could cut homecare worker wages 30 percent, to the minimum wage of $8 an hour, a sharper reduction than the deep cuts already passed by the California Legislature and Fresno County being challenged by the lawsuit. The cuts could force tens of thousands of people out of their homes and into nursing homes, which could cost the state as much as four times more than home care services.

"We took Fresno County to arbitration over the cuts and have been actively lobbying the County Board of Supervisors. We've been calling our legislators. We've been holding vigils at the Capitol in Sacramento. We even got the Obama administration to tell California that they couldn't cut homecare workers' pay and still get billions in stimulus funds," stated Mai Thao, Community Organizer for UHW-SEIU. "We have been defending our homecare members and their clients by fighting to stop the cuts at every level of government. We have even taken the fight to the courts by filing a class-action lawsuit against the State of California and Fresno County."

UHW SEIU is part of the powerful Service Employees International Union, a union with more than 2 million members nationwide, and more than 700,000 members in California alone. With millions of people out of work, SEIU is uniting workers around the country so that they can weather these stormy economic times.