Labor & Employment Law

Domestic Workers Seeking Rights Need Unions

By admin

Domestic workers in New York City marched for justice in 2007.

Jenya Cassidy of the Labor Project for Working Families reports on the importance of unions joining the campaign for domestic workers? rights.

Many workers have a hard time balancing work and family, but the workers who take care of other people’s families have the hardest time of all. There are more than 2.5 million domestic workers in the United States who work as nannies and maids. They care for other families’ homes and children while they are separated from their own children, often by a continent. They work long hours without overtime pay and, more often than not, without health benefits.

In the most recent edition of Labor Family News, Andrea Cristina Mercado of  Mujeres Unidas y Activas (Active and United Women, MUA) and Ai-Jen Poo of Domestic Workers United (DWU) tell the story of Maria, a Central American woman who came to New York as a domestic worker to support her family.

Maria’s story is heart-wrenching but not uncommon. Without the protection of a union, without even the protection of most state and federal labor laws, her employers required her to work 18 hours a day, six days a week for less than $3 an hour. She lived in the basement of her employer’s home, where a broken sewage system flooded the floor by her bed. Bad as these conditions were, Maria was devastated when her employer fired her without notice or severance pay, leaving her with nowhere to go.

Until recently, it was practically impossible for domestic workers like Maria to fight back when treated unjustly. Labor laws explicitly excluded them from protection. In spite of these obstacles, domestic workers in New York celebrated a major victory in July when a new law extending state labor protections to home-based nannies and housekeepers went into effect. New York State?s law is the first of its kind in the United States. Now organizers are building momentum to enact a similar law in California.

As DWU and MUA build the campaign for domestic worker rights, they are seeking union support. Unions can play a key role in passing legislation in the same way they have been strong supporters of family leave and caregivers? rights.  Unions are in the unique position of being advocates for workers struggling to care for their families as well as advocating for the people who help make this possible. Go to www.mujeresunidas.net to find out how your union can get involved. It is time for us to stand together in support of the most vulnerable workers.

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on October 13, 2010 (boomark / email).