Home attendants rally May Day to protest 24-hour shifts

In celebration of May Day, hundreds of home attendants and others held a rally in English, Spanish and Chinese outside City Hall in New York City to demand an end to 24-hour workdays. Home attendants in the city, mostly immigrant women of color, are forced to work 24-hour shifts for only 13 hours of pay, with no time to sleep or eat. They called on the City Council to push for the “No More 24” Act to be brought to a vote. 

Credit: Brenda Ryan

The bill would end 24-hour shifts, requiring them to be split into two 12-hour shifts, and would cap the number of hours worked for home attendants to 50 hours per week. Protesters denounced New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who has refused to bring the bill to a vote and instead sided with home care and insurance companies. The event was called by the Ain’t I a Woman?! Campaign.

At least four of the speakers spoke of the genocide being carried out in Gaza and demanded an end to the killing of Palestinians.

– Report and photo by Brenda Ryan