HANFORD - Kings County's 1,200 In-Home Support Services workers were mostly pleased to get a pay raise, union membership and health insurance Thursday after several hundred of them voted for a contract.

Pleased, not thrilled.

"It wasn't what we wanted. It's a step forward," said Jesus Camacho, who cares for his house-bound mother 3 hours a day.

Camacho and 327 other workers voted in favor of a contract that gives them $7.50 an hour instead of $6.75. Those who work an average of 87 hours a month for three months or more will also get health insurance starting Jan. 1, 2006.

IHSS workers also voted convincingly to join United Domestic Workers in a closed-shop arrangement, meaning everybody who works for an In-Home Support Services recipient will have to pay into the union, whether they voted for it or not.

In Home Support Services is a state program administered through the county's Human Services Agency that pays providers to care for the low-income elderly, disabled and sick.

The raise will show up in the next paycheck, set to go out mid-October.

Union deductions, running between $13.50 and $35 a month depending on hours worked, will show up in the same paycheck.

The contract ends June 30, 2007.

Workers and Kings County officials agreed on the provisions of the contract Aug. 23 after nearly three years of negotiating.

Union officials initially asked for $10.10 an hour but steadily reduced that amount as county officials refused to budge.

Don Turner, IHSS coordinator for Kings County, pleaded drum-tight budgets in saying that $7.50 an hour was all the county could afford.

Tulare and Merced counties settled for the same wage amount last month, according to Turner.

Some coastal counties pay $10.10 an hour, the maximum amount counties can negotiate and still be reimbursed under a state/federal formula that limits their out-of-pocket liability to 17.5 percent of the total.

Kern, Stanislaus and Santa Barbara all pay at least $8 an hour, UDW official Bob Battle said.

County officials argued that $7.50 an hour in Kings is roughly equivalent to higher amounts elsewhere because of the lower cost of living in the San Joaquin Valley.

It's an improvement over minimum wage, Camacho said.

But you won't find him celebrating.

"It's going to make a little bit of difference, but not that much. I'm still working on pennies and nickels here," he said.

Like most IHSS workers, Camacho is a relative caring for a relative. He lives with his mother, helping her to get dressed and take showers.

Camacho said that even though he spends about three hours a day directly assisting her, he needs to stick around most of the time in case she falls.

He said health insurance "is better than nothing."

He has been relying on MediCal for "emergencies."

"If I had a cold or the flu, I had to pay for that myself," he said.

Camacho pushed hard for a raise, arguing that IHSS workers are a net gain for the county because they keep people out of rest homes.

He called Thursday's agreement "pretty good."

"Well, we're getting a raise, which we've been fighting for for about three years," he said.

(The reporter may be reached at snidever@hanfordsentinel.com.)

(Oct. 4, 2005)