OUR DOMESTIC WORKERS DESERVE BILL OF RIGHTS
BY ALBOR RUIZ
DAILY NEWS
May 31, 2007
Every day, 200,000 domestic workers in New York make it possible for their employers to go to work. Yet, most are employed without a living wage, health care and basic labor protections.
Even though they spend much of their lives taking care of others, they are among the most exploited of society's laborers.
"They are an invisible segment of society," said Assemblyman Keith Wright (D-Harlem), the sponsor of a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights that was just reintroduced in both legislative chambers.
"To me, this is a deeply personal issue," Wright added, "because my grandmother and my grandfather were domestic workers."
Today, most domestic workers in New York are immigrant women from the Caribbean, Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Abusing them is easy because many of them cannot navigate our nation's complex system of laws, or have trouble with the language of their new country.
Yet they are not willing to quietly take the abuse any longer and are organizing for justice, respect and in support of the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights.
"As far as I am concerned, these folks are the economic backbone of New York," Wright said. "With this bill of rights, we're finally doing right by domestic workers in New York State. It is a question of justice."
This bill would, for the first time, give thousands of nannies, housekeepers, elder companions, cleaners, baby-sitters and cooks in private households in the State of New York the same protection other workers have.
Although the City Council passed the first bill in the country to expand protections for domestic workers in 2003 by requiring employers to inform employees in writing about duties and wages, this is the third time the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights is being introduced in the Assembly and the second time in the State Senate.
"We are hopeful it will pass this time," said Ai-Jen Poo, an organizer for Domestic Workers United, the largest coalition of domestic workers in New York.
"Now the majority of domestic workers are immigrants, but this is a labor bill, not an immigration one," Poo said. "The same conditions of exploitation existed when the majority of the workers were African-American U.S. citizens."
The bill of rights addresses this historical exclusion of domestic workers from state labor protections, which opened the door for employers to subject them to abuse and exploitation.
It lays out a comprehensive set of rights based on the unique conditions workers in private homes face.
If the bill is approved, domestic workers will enjoy for the first time the right to paid holidays, vacation and sick days. It also will compel employers to treat nannies and housekeepers not as servants, but as what they are: real workers.
Actually, a group called Jews for Racial and Economic Justice is taking a unique approach to the problem by organizing an Employers for Justice network in synagogues and other Jewish communities.
"Employers feel that the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights falls in line with their Jewish values," said Danielle Feris, a community organizer with the group. "And that it is beneficial to have a protected and stable work environment for those who care for their most precious possessions."
Yes, these women take care of our most precious possessions: our children, our parents, our homes. Yet, instead of the recognition they deserve, all too often they are abused and exploited.
The sooner the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights becomes law, the better.
© Copyright 2007 NYDailyNews.com. All rights reserved.
