In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) is a social service that allows people who need long-term care to receive it in the comfort and safety of their own homes. In Siskiyou County, approximately 490 IHSS workers provide long-term care services—including household work, personal care services, and paramedical services—to approximately 580 older adults and people with disabilities.
Click here to learn more about the essential long-term care IHSS workers provide.
Without our IHSS workers, our neighbors who receive services through IHSS would lose access to essential long-term care. Despite their vital role in Siskiyou’s long-term care system, IHSS workers earn just $16.50 an hour. They are the only IHSS workforce in California that is still paid minimum wage and lacks the protections of a collective bargaining agreement.
Siskiyou IHSS workers are joining together to secure a strong contract that increases wages and improves benefits for workers, and guarantees just & equitable access to long-term care for all who need it in our community.
Campaign Update: February 2026
On February 2nd, we brought Siskiyou Supervisors to a fact-finding hearing following an impasse in contract negotiations due to their refusal to raise our wage above the state minimum.
The next day, we doubled down by showing up at the Board of Supervisors meeting to send a strong, unified message: FIRST CONTRACT NOW!
We have our community’s attention. Now it’s time to continue growing our movement for higher wages and better access to long-term care.
Here’s what you can do to help raise your IHSS wage:
- 😼 Join our Contract Action Team (CAT). We need to spread awareness about the importance of addressing Siskiyou’s long-term care crisis by raising wages for IHSS workers. CAT members can make this happen by calling fellow IHSS workers, supporting community events, and attending Board of Supervisors meetings. Click here to sign-up or learn more!
- 💲Build support with local businesses. When wages for IHSS workers increase, our entire community reaps the benefits. Ask local businesses to sign-on to our support letter — share this link with them!
- 🛜 Join our Facebook Group. Stay connected with your union to receive updates and learn more about ways you can take action for higher wages. Click here to join our Facebook Group for Siskiyou County IHSS Workers!
We can’t and won’t back down until we have a first-ever union contract that meets the needs of IHSS workers, recipients, and every Siskiyou County resident.
Campaign Update: January 2026
Siskiyou is still the only county in California that refuses to pay IHSS workers above minimum wage. We’ve been hard at work to reach an agreement with Siskiyou Supervisors on our first-ever union contract, but they refuse to take action. Negotiations are at an impasse, which means neither our union nor the county believe any more progress can be made in negotiations.
On February 3, we need your help to hold County Supervisors accountable.
We’re calling on all Siskiyou IHSS providers and long-term care workers from across Northern California to flood the Siskiyou Board of Supervisors meeting to send a powerful, unified message: fund home care NOW, first contract NOW!
🗣️ Your voice makes the difference. Join us on February 3!
- What: Attend the Board of Supervisors and support fellow Siskiyou IHSS workers as we address the Board during public comment and urge them to raise our wage.
- When: Tuesday, February 3 at 8 am
- Where: Siskiyou Board of Supervisors Chambers, 311 Fourth St (Second Floor), Yreka, CA 96097
- Volunteer: Click here or go to forms.gle/pZ9i75rmXv838RQBA to join our Contract Action Team (CAT) that will help make this event a success
While we make our voices heard at the Board meeting, we’ll be presenting our case to California’s Public Employment Relations Board (PERB). They will consider facts presented by our union and the county and ultimately offer a recommendation for contract terms we both should agree to.
Campaign Update: October 2025
After years of trying to reach an agreement on our first-ever union contract that meets the needs of our community, Siskiyou Supervisors have continually refused to pay IHSS workers above minimum wage—driving negotiations to an impasse, which means neither our union nor the county believe any more movement can be made in negotiations.
Countless IHSS workers and community allies have stood before the Board of Supervisors to urge them to increase access to essential long-term care by raising the IHSS wage. Now, we’re holding them accountable for their fiscal irresponsibility. Over the next few months, California’s Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) will step in to consider all the facts and recommend fair contract terms.
But we can’t sit back and wait. It’s going to take every IHSS worker across Siskiyou—from Hornbrook, to Yreka, to Dunsmuir—to continue pressuring Siskiyou Supervisors to do the right thing and fund home care.
Here are 3 things you can do right now to do your part to secure higher wages for IHSS workers:
📅 RSVP to join us at the next Siskiyou Board of Supervisors Meeting on Tuesday, November 18
- What: Attend the Board of Supervisors and support fellow Siskiyou IHSS workers as we address the Board during public comment and urge them to raise our wage.
- When: Tuesday, November 18 at 8:30 am
- Where: Siskiyou Board of Supervisors Chambers, 311 Fourth St (Second Floor), Yreka, CA 96097
😼 Sign up to join your neighborhood’s Contract Action Team (CAT)
- What: Talk with fellow IHSS workers and community members in your neighborhood to engage them in our movement for higher wages for IHSS workers and better access to long-term care across Siskiyou.
- How: Click here or go to forms.gle/pZ9i75rmXv838RQBA to sign up today!
📨 Write an email to your Siskiyou Supervisor urging them to raise wages for IHSS workers
- What: Send an email to Siskiyou Supervisors using our template or make it your own by adding your caregiving story and why you need a higher wage!
- How: Click here or go to actionnetwork.org/letters/email-siskiyou-supervisors to send an email right now!
Campaign Update: September 2025
Join us at the upcoming Board of Supervisors meeting on September 16:
- When: Tuesday, September 16 at 8:30 am
- Where: Siskiyou Board of Supervisors Chambers, 311 Fourth St (Second Floor), Yreka, CA 96097
- What: Attend the Board of Supervisors meeting and support fellow Siskiyou IHSS workers as we address the Board during public comment and urge them to raise our wage
Over the past several months, Siskiyou IHSS workers have been negotiating our first-ever union contract with the County Board of Supervisors. Through this process, we’re trying to raise wages in order to improve the quality of our jobs and ensure our families have access to in-home care for generations to come.
But Siskiyou Supervisors are refusing to raise our wages—making us the only IHSS workers in California without a union contract, which means we’re the only ones still making minimum wage. They’re devaluing your work and leaving more than $500,000 of state and federal funding on the table instead of using it to benefit our community.
In August, we had a scheduled meeting with county leaders to keep making progress toward our union contract, but the county canceled on us with less than 24-hours notice.
Now, we’re continuing to build support by speaking with fellow Siskiyou IHSS workers, small business owners, and every people across our community to urge our County Supervisors to do the right thing and fund home care.
Join us at the next Board of Supervisors meeting on September 16 to urge county leaders to fund home care now!
Campaign Update: November 2024
In November:
- Our union went door-to-door across Siskiyou County to hear from IHSS workers and recipients about how a strong union contract will positively impact their lives.
- We heard stories of the need for higher wages that will help workers stay in the caregiving profession as we prepare to address the growing demand for in-home care across the county.
- IHSS recipients expressed the essential role their caregivers play in supporting their independence and enabling them to have a voice in how they receive long-term care.
- IHSS workers and recipients will continue telling our stories to make sure people with disabilities and older adults across our county will have just and equitable access to long-term care for years to come.
Campaign Update: October 2024
On Tuesday, October 1:
- Siskiyou home care workers spoke out at the Board of Supervisors meeting to demand our elected officials invest in long-term care and pass a strong union contract for IHSS providers.
- After the meeting, we rallied in front of the Board chambers to inform our community about the growing long-term care crisis and how investing in our IHSS workforce is the best solution to address it.