1199SEIU Healthcare Workers Protest Unfair Boss At Dr. King Event At Kennedy Center

1199SEIU healthcare workers leafleted at The Choral Arts Society of Washington’s Forward the Dream, the 22nd Annual Choral Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to educate attendees about the event’s co-chair Solanges Vivens, who is denying her employees a union contract with decent wages and benefits.

The caregivers contend that Vivens’s treatment of her workers is in direct conflict with Dr. King’s legacy of social and economic equality.

Workers at VMT Home Health Agency, which is supported wholly by city funding, voted to join 1199SEIU to bargain a fair contract with increased wages and paid time off. Vivens refuses to increase homecare workers salaries by 25 cents per hour even though another city-supported DC agency has agreed to raise pay. She has also dragged out negotiations for homecare workers for more than 18 months.

“I don’t understand why Solanges Vivens is involved in this event because the Rev. Martin Luther King didn’t stand for working people being exploited,” said Pamela Drew, a home healthcare worker. “We let people know about Solanges Vivens and how she treats her employees.”

At VMT Home Health Agency, workers make $10.50 per hour, regardless of term of service, and have no paid time off or health insurance.