#JustPay Campaign Rallies for Equal Pay and COLA

justpay rally

Samaritan Daytop Village takes part in campaigns that advocate for workers in the human services, housing, and behavioral health sectors. Among these initiatives has been the Human Services Council’s (HSC) #JustPay campaign, which is seeking government-funded salary increases and raises for essential workers in the human services field.

Individuals working in the sector are among the most poorly funded in the state. Since last year, the #JustPay campaign has made two demands:

Increase funding for human services contracts
Raise the cost of living adjustment (COLA)

According to the HSC, human services agencies did not receive a COLA increase during Andrew Cuomo’s decade as New York State’s Governor. The omission has cost nearly 800,000 workers more than $700 million in raises. The combination of reduced funding and zero COLA has made human services workers among the lowest paid in the state of New York.

“Human services agencies throughout the state are seeing record-breaking job vacancies. Samaritan Daytop Village is no exception,” explained Mitchell Netburn, President & CEO of Samaritan Daytop Village and former Treasurer of the Human Services Council. “Every day New Yorkers depend on the critical services provided by nonprofit human services providers. Without State and City funding, we are hampered in our ability to serve our communities.”

Staff from Samaritan Daytop Village's Transitional and Permanent Supportive Housing programs and VP of Real Estate Jerry Mascuch (far left) took part in the #JustPay Rally at City Hall Park Fountain in Manhattan.

Over the last few months, Samaritan Daytop Village has joined thousands of other nonprofits in the fight for #JustPay.

#JustPay Rally, City Hall Park Fountain, November 23, 2021.
Several Transitional and Permanent Supportive Housing staff members including VP of Real Estate Jerry Mascuch, took part in a #JustPay rally to demand a COLA increase and equal pay for the same work performed by colleagues in the public and private sectors.
#HomeBakeSale Social Media Campaign, January 10, 2021.
We took part in the #HomeBakeSale social media campaign, baking up #JustPay-stry in an attempt to ensure legislators keep promised human services funding in the final State budget.
Musical Video, December 8, 2021.
The HSC-produced music video called “State of the State (The Musical!)” was introduced at the Changemakers Conference and has been viewed over 1,100 times. You can watch on YouTube but (advance warning!) the video has a few expletives.

On January 5th, at her State of the State address, Governor Kathy Hochul announced a pledge of a 5.4% COLA for State-funded human service workers in the new State budget. The investment will help 800,000 workers and thousands of essential nonprofit human services providers across the state.

To learn more about the #JustPay campaign and how underfunded contracts financially impact human service workers' salaries, visit justpayny.org.