Colorado WINS Members, Home Care Providers, Airport Workers to Call on Lawmakers to Protect, Respect and Pay our State’s Essential Workers

DENVER — Tomorrow, dozens of state essential workers and community activists will rally at the State Capitol as part of the Step it Up for Colorado: Protect, Respect and Pay our State’s Essential Workers Campaign. State employees, home care providers, and airport workers, many of whom have been on the frontlines of the pandemic risking their health and the health of their families, will call on elected leaders to ensure that they, and all essential workers, have safe working conditions and are paid a living wage. State employees across Colorado will be participating in similar actions on Friday to call attention to these important issues.

The pandemic has revealed just how much Colorado depends on working people and on critical state services. But many of Colorado’s essential workers are paid so little that they struggle to support their own families. That’s why, as they face working through yet another wave of this deadly pandemic, they are calling on elected leaders to stand with them.

State employees have come together to improve wages — which are 16% lower than their peers outside of state government — and understaffing, which puts many employees at risk and makes it difficult to provide the services Coloradans need. In addition, the need for homecare has increased in Colorado, yet home care providers face low pay and a lack of basic benefits and training. Homecare workers have called on the state to convene a wage board that could recommend improved standards for the industry. Airport workers are also asking elected leaders to stand with them as they stand up to air industry giants, which have received billions in federal pandemic aid, and negotiate with their contractors for decent wages and benefits.