By the Unified Savers Editorial Team
Wage rates and contract timelines vary by county. Contact SEIU 2015 at 1-877-734-8673 or visit seiu2015.org for the status of bargaining in your county.
SEIU 2015 formally launched its “Dignity Wages” campaign in June 2026, a coordinated statewide push to raise IHSS provider wages to $25 per hour across all 58 California counties by 2028 — aligning home care worker pay with the minimum wage floor established for healthcare facility workers under California’s SB 525. The campaign targets roughly 30 counties where current IHSS wages remain below $20 per hour.
Why $25 Per Hour and Why Now
The $25/hour target is not arbitrary. California’s SB 525, signed into law in 2023, established a phased minimum wage for healthcare facility employees that reaches $25/hour for most covered workers by 2026–2028 depending on employer category. SEIU 2015 argues that IHSS providers — who deliver the same personal care services as facility-based aides, but in recipients’ homes — should be paid comparably.
“If you change a patient’s catheter in a hospital, you earn a healthcare minimum wage,” said one SEIU 2015 organizer quoted at the campaign launch rally in Sacramento on June 17. “If you do the same work in a person’s home under IHSS, in many counties you’re still earning $16 or $17 an hour. That is not equity.”
Current wages vary dramatically across California’s 58 counties. Los Angeles County — the largest IHSS program in the country — moved to $19.10 per hour on July 1, 2026. But smaller rural counties including Lassen, Modoc, and Trinity still pay IHSS providers at or just above the state minimum wage of $17 per hour, a gap that makes provider recruitment nearly impossible in areas already experiencing care worker shortages.
The Bargaining Landscape for 2026–2027
IHSS wages are set through collective bargaining between SEIU 2015 and each county’s board of supervisors. This means the “Dignity Wages” campaign must win 58 separate negotiations rather than a single statewide agreement — a logistical challenge that SEIU 2015 is addressing through a coordinated multi-county strategy.
Priority bargaining counties in the current cycle include:
- Fresno County — current rate $17.90/hour; SEIU target $21/hour by January 2027
- Kern County — current rate $17.40/hour; bargaining sessions began in May 2026
- San Bernardino County — current rate $18.25/hour; contract expiration August 2026
- Riverside County — current rate $18.10/hour; contract expiration September 2026
- Stanislaus County — current rate $17.60/hour; initial bargaining scheduled for July 2026
Counties with contracts not expiring until 2027 or 2028 will be addressed in the campaign’s second wave.
State IHSS Wage Parity Legislation
In parallel with county bargaining, SEIU 2015 is supporting AB 2247, introduced by Assembly Member Isaac Bryan (D-Los Angeles), which would establish a statewide minimum IHSS wage floor of $21 per hour effective January 1, 2027. The bill passed the Assembly Committee on Health in May 2026 and was referred to the Senate Human Services Committee.
A statewide wage floor would remove the current situation in which a provider in Sacramento County earns $4 to $6 more per hour than an equally skilled provider doing identical work in a neighboring rural county — a disparity that SEIU 2015 argues drives provider shortages in lower-wage counties and ultimately leaves care recipients without available workers.
AB 2247 faces opposition from the California State Association of Counties (CSAC), which argues that a statewide wage floor would shift cost obligations to counties without corresponding state funding. The bill’s fiscal analysis is pending as of late June 2026.
How Providers Can Participate in the Campaign
SEIU 2015’s Dignity Wages campaign is member-driven, and provider participation is central to bargaining success.
Ways to get involved:
- Sign the Dignity Wages pledge at seiu2015.org — the union uses pledge numbers to demonstrate bargaining leverage with county supervisors
- Attend county bargaining sessions — public sessions are open to providers who want to observe negotiations
- Contact your county supervisor — SEIU has a digital tool that generates personalized scripts and connects calls directly to supervisors’ offices
- Join or start a worksite committee — providers who organize their fellow caregivers in a neighborhood or recipient building create the strongest local bargaining pressure
Union membership dues are approximately 2% of monthly IHSS wages. For a provider working 120 hours per month at $18/hour, that is approximately $43/month — the same cost that unlocks health insurance through the Homecare Workers Health Trust and legal assistance through the SEIU member benefits program.
The Dignity Wages campaign represents the most ambitious statewide IHSS wage push since the 2014 round of negotiations that first extended overtime protections to home care workers. Whether it reaches its $25/hour goal by 2028 will depend on organizing intensity in the counties where wages remain lowest and the outcome of AB 2247 in the Senate.
Additional Resources on Unified Savers:
- IHSS Union Benefits SEIU 2015 — Health insurance and member benefits
- IHSS Pay Rate California 2026 — Current wages by county
- IHSS Caregiver Rights California — Rights and protections for providers