PORTLAND, Ore. - A pay raise is on the way for more than 20,000 home-care workers in Oregon.

A new contract has been settled with the state by SEIU Local 503 that outlines a pathway of up to $15 an hour by 2017. Home-care workers currently have a base wage of $13.75 an hour.

"Some people say, oh, $15 an hour isn't anything, but $15 an hour to us is a lot," said home-care worker Phyllis Wills, who was on the bargaining team. "They don't know what $15 an hour means to us - and it means freedom."

The contract will be up for a vote for all union members soon.

Eileen Ordway, a long-time home-care worker who also was on the bargaining team, said this new wage plan rewards workers who go the extra mile to improve their expertise and performance in order to support people so they can stay in their homes.

"It's exciting to have an awareness of how vital training, education and refinement of skills is to our work," she said.

Home-care worker Alice Redding, who also helped make the contract happen, said that in 1999, before home-care workers unionized, the base pay was less than $5 an hour for most workers - and many depended on food stamps and other programs.

"Earning a living wage is so important," she said. "It means a difference of surviving or living in poverty. Now, we'll be making a decent wage and we'll be able to have a little less struggle."

The contract would be reopened in 2017 to review future wage increases.


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South Dakota's new governor is making an active pitch regarding economic opportunities for the state. The renewable-energy sector said it continues to build a strong case, including manufacturing jobs.

Gov. Larry Rhoden spent much of March crisscrossing South Dakota on his "Open for Opportunity" tour to hear about promising development, workforce needs and trade issues. It has not received a visit yet but officials with the Marmen Energy plant in Brandon said they are keeping busy. Nearly 300 people there construct towers to hold turbines for wind energy.

Dan Lueders, plant manager for Marmen Energy, called it the very definition of "American-made" products.

"It's fully American made with American steel," Lueders explained. "We're contributing to the American independence on energy and also providing good-paying manufacturing jobs."

The Clean Grid Alliance said the plant produces roughly 1,000 tower sections each year for shipment throughout the upper Midwest. Lueders noted with data centers and other factors driving up electricity demand, he sees more opportunities for his operation. Nationally, enthusiasm has been somewhat dampened by the Trump administration's push to roll back renewable-energy funding, with a stated desire to focus more on fossil fuels.

But utilities are increasingly turning to renewables to diversify their output as demand spikes.

Waylon Brown, president of Rushmore State Renewables and regional policy manager for Clean Grid Alliance, said if South Dakota keeps the welcome mat out for wind and solar development, other industries will want to set up shop here.

"They're looking for nearby energy generation when deciding what states to do business in," Brown pointed out.

In addition to the manufacturing upside, the Energy Information Administration said South Dakota ranks second nationally for wind energy generation. Brown said, for example, having a healthy power supply could be attractive to the health care sector, noting advancement in medical technology is one of the many other things requiring more energy use.

More jobs could be coming to Arkansas as companies interested in bringing manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. consider the Natural State, according to a study by the Reshoring Institute.

Rosemary Coates, executive director of the nonprofit, said the state's low minimum wage is cost-effective for companies requiring a large labor force.

"What we generally encourage our clients to do is look at the major metropolitan areas and set up manufacturing just outside of that area so you can pull from the labor pool there," Coates explained. "Or to look at the metropolitan areas in places like Arkansas."

She noted although manufacturing remains cheaper in other countries, supply-chain problems experienced during the pandemic are making U.S. companies explore options for reshoring. The study did not address the financial effects of possible Trump administration tariffs on materials manufactured abroad.

Twenty states across the country, mainly in the South, pay the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. If labor is a high percentage of a company's costs, it could be less expensive to reshore operations. Coates added some companies opt to have plants in multiple countries.

"Bringing some manufacturing to Mexico and some to the U.S. and keeping some in Asia," Coates outlined. "Companies are really rethinking the whole idea and strategy about where in the world they're manufacturing."

She stressed labor rates vary between rural areas and major cities in every state. Other costs associated with reshoring include local and state taxes, training, tax credits and logistics.


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A lack of access to in-home care in Pennsylvania has reached a crisis point, according to professionals in the field, leaving thousands of residents without essential services.

More than 400,000 Pennsylvanians rely on in-home care for daily support.

Mia Haney, CEO of the Pennsylvania Homecare Association, said Gov. Shapiro's budget puts seniors at risk, as it only includes $21 million for direct care workers and only for what's known as the directed model, which employs just 6% of them, leaving 94% without funding.

"We do not have enough workers to meet the need for folks who are looking for services and every single month, 112,000-plus shifts go unfilled," Haney pointed out. "That could be an eight-hour shift, it could be a six-hour shift, but a caregiver is not coming and someone is waiting for services."

Haney emphasized legislators control budget priorities and insisted they must support the direct care workforce this year. Without funding increases, she argued, many will go without care, leading to harm and unnecessary nursing facility placements for those who could receive services at home.

The General Assembly must vote on the budget by June 30.

Haney notes by 2030, one in three Pennsylvania residents will be over 65, increasing the demand for caregivers. Meanwhile, the number of potential caregivers remains steady, creating a growing shortage as the elderly population rises.

"We just this year had a study released that showed that the rates here in Pennsylvania are insufficient, meaning that you cannot possibly recruit and retain quality workers with the Medicaid reimbursement rate that we have today," Haney reported. "In fact, (it) indicated that we are 23% below where we should be."

Pennsylvania's average reimbursement rate for in-home care is just $20.63 cents per hour, which some feel is insufficient to maintain a stable workforce.

In comparison, neighboring states -- such as Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and West Virginia -- offer rates that are 25% to 75% higher for the same services.


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