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NEWS & LETTERS, October-November 2006Domestic work rightsNew York—At a "Summit on Domestic Work in New York" held Sept. 8, domestic workers and their allies enlisted support for their campaign to enact a state "domestic workers’ bill of rights" for this largely unprotected workforce. Most federal labor laws exempt domestic workers. There are about 200,000 housekeepers and nannies in New York State, nearly all of them women of color and most of them immigrants. Their isolation in individual homes adds to their exploitation and abuse. A survey released by Domestic Workers United in July found that over a quarter of domestic workers have earnings below the poverty line, that most work 10 to 20 hours of overtime a week but only a third are paid for it, and that 90% have no health benefits. INTERNATIONAL PARTICIPANTS The workers organizations involved in the "bill of rights" campaign are mostly ethnically based—South Asian, Caribbean, African, Latino and others. The bill in the state legislature would require a minimum wage of $14 an hour, or $16 if health insurance is not provided. It would require time and a half pay for overtime, one day off a week, and vacations, holidays, and other benefits. Although the bill has the support of some politicians and labor unions, there is little chance of it becoming law any time soon. A domestic worker from Long Island described organizing a workers’ co-op, enabling women to enforce the few legal rights they have. They recently won a county law, like New York City’s, requiring employers to state in writing that they will comply with existing law. One Latina worker described her live-in job caring for newborn babies day and night for months without a break. "I was so sleep-deprived, I forgot that I was a person," she said. When she got sick, she had no insurance, and was required to make up the days she took off. "Domestic work is an attack on the dignity of workers," she concluded. FIGHTING THE LIES A domestic worker turned organizer described a woman who paid an agency in the Philippines $5,000 on the promise of a white collar job. When she arrived in the U.S. she was told she would receive $300 a week for domestic work instead. She was actually given $100 a week and inadequate food for seven-day work weeks. Amy Sugimori of the National Employment Law Project encouraged the campaign for a one-industry state law, likening it to California’s agricultural laws, passed in response to union organizing in the 1970s and ‘80s, and to current campaigns by day laborers. Joycelyn Campbell, a nanny and organizer for Domestic Workers United, concluded the conference: "For too long, the employers and government have underestimated the intelligence of domestic workers. They’ve called us stupid or ignorant. Now we are going to fight until we win." —Anne Jaclard |
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