What Workers Want

A list in the first newsletter published by the Maine Personal Assistance Services Association summarized what workers at an inaugural meeting said they wanted their association to do for them:

• Empower us to preserve human dignity
• Help us address issues like continuity of care and short staffing
• Give affirmation
• Help us make changes
• Provide comraderie
• Other people will view us as professionals
• Other people with see us as valuable
• Other people will see the people we serve as valuable, including older people and people with disabilities, both children and adults
• Our voices could be solidified (and unified) and people would listen

And what would the workers tell peopl, once they had their ear? "Pay us what we're worth," the list concludes. "Treat us better in other ways also -- give us more positive feedback."