Over 75 Long Island home care workers – along with more than 100 of their family members – enjoyed a Family Fun Day picnic in Nassau County’s Eisenhower State Park on July 14. Attendees enjoyed freshly charcoal-grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, and children were delighted by face-painting and balloon animals. ries."It's great that we organized this picnic," said Ilyssa Roth, a home health aide with Personal Touch who lives in Shirley. "It's a chance to get coworkers together for fun and an outing. We can let our hair down and just be ourselves."

Workers at Premier Home Health Care Services in Suffolk and Priority Home Care in Nassau recently ratified one of their first contracts, as workers at other agencies continue to struggle to win theirs.

Picnic attendees were also celebrated the Home Care Worker Wage Parity Act, which sets a minimum wage on all Medicaid-funded cases, and will be implemented in Nassau and Suffolk counties beginning on March 1, 2013. Many who attended the picnic also signed up to be Weekend Warriors to re-elect President Barack Obama.

The Suffolk County picnic is scheduled for Aug.25th at Hecksher State Park.