Home Health Aides to Go On Hunger Strike April 16th

On March 26, as a representative for the New York State Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for a Moral Revival, I added my voice and supported the courageous home-health aides conducting a sit-in in front of City Hall for the NO MORE 24 law (nomore24.org/) which will protect them from the modern-day slavery of a 24-hour work day (while being paid for only 13 of those hours), and in support of the New York Health Act (Universal Healthcare for every New Yorker - nyhcampaign.org/) that will provide these workers with the healthcare that they and all New Yorkers should have.

Not only is the health of these home care workers compromised by the grueling conditions of a 24-hour work day, but they also pay for health insurance that is routinely rejected by healthcare professionals and their institutions, which only further compromises their abused bodies.

But these workers are fighting back and no longer will allow themselves to be trapped by the systems of injustice that want to make a profit off of the destruction of their health, and for some it has even caused their death, so healthcare agencies can reap a bigger profit and health insurance companies get to keep their premiums while providing few or no services. It is an insanity that these healthcare workers can’t get decent healthcare. These workers are human beings and their fight is our fight, because every worker, and I mean every worker, deserves to be protected from vultures like these that are exploiting and abusing them for money.

New York City is the only place in New York State where this is happening. And, this should not be happening in New York City, this should not be happening in New York State, this should not be happening any place on the planet.

There are already home healthcare agencies that have split the 24-hour work shift voluntarily, and some because of the pressure that has come from this campaign. So, the argument that it can’t be done because there isn’t enough money for lack of better terminology is B.S., because, it is already being done!

All that is needed now is the will of our elected representatives, Mayor Mamdani (who said he supported the bill when campaigning for mayor), Governor Kathy Hochul, Council Speaker Julie Menin (who stated she would bring it to to the council floor for a vote) and the other council members, to be just as courageous as these courageous workers, and to step forward and do what is right for these and all workers, and for all New Yorkers in protecting us from being abused by our employers and to provide a healthcare system that will give quality healthcare for these home-health aides and all New Yorkers.

It must be said that the vast majority of the home-health aides in New York City are immigrants, just like many of our parents or grandparents were when they came to this country to find a better life. Now it’s their turn to seek a better life. We say in the Poor People’s Campaign that “When we lift from the bottom, Everybody Rises.” IF THEY WIN, WE ALL WIN! NO MORE 24!!!

These brave home health aides will be continuing the struggle by returning to City Hall on April 16th for a Hunger Strike.

Please contact your council member offices and ask them to vote yes on the NO MORE 24 bill. Let us all step forward to put an end to this modern-day slavery!

To find your local council member (type in your zip code on the upper right search window on this link) council.nyc.gov/districts/ You can also do a google search.

(This article is an edited version of the March 26, 2026 speech given by Raquel Irizarry at the NO MORE 24 Sit-In)

About the author: Raquel Irizarry has an MSSW from Columbia School of Social Work and a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary, is a lay minister with the United Church of Christ, and is also a Coordinating Committee Member of the NYC/NYS Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for a Moral Revival.