Blog for Domestic Workers on Tuesday, June 5th!
May 19th, 2007Attention bloggers: Tuesday, June 5th is Blog for Domestic Workers day! The event is in conjunction with a massive Town Hall meeting and accountability session at Judson Memorial Church in New York City on Thursday, June 7th. Domestic Workers United (DWU), an organization of nannies, housecleaners, and elderly care givers, is pushing a Domestic Worker Bill of Rights through the state legislature in Albany. If passed, it would be the first legislation of its kind, guaranteeing basic rights to domestic workers in New York state. Domestic workers have been excluded from most federal and state labor laws, including the National Labor Relations Act.
Domestic workers number over 200,000 in the New York tri-state area alone. They work tirelessly for low pay and little respect, yet they enable about 400,000 middle- and upper-class folks to go to work every day. They make this city run, yet they have received little recognition for this work. It is no coincidence that most domestic workers are immigrant women of color and do traditional women’s work. The time has come for the world, or at least New York City, to recognize and appreciate what a vital role domestic workers play. (more here)
No matter where you live, please consider posting on June 5th about anything that relates to domestic workers: your experiences working as one; being raised by one; political issues from your own broad perspective; your thoughts on how this issue is a feminist issue; how it relates to the other immigrant experiences; ideas on how we might frame this issue for a mainstream audience. Anything you like, just frame it as why I support the Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights. Take part in breaking the silence on this issue. Help bring it out of the closet by doing what you do best: writing your heart out. June 5th. If you can, please link to info about the Town Hall event and to the text of the Bill of Rights. And don’t forget to leave a link to your post in the comments section of this one and if you can, please use the image at the top of this page in your post. Thank you and I look forward to seeing all of your fantastic posts on June 5th!
RESOURCES:
- results of study on domestic workers in NYC, 2006
best employment practices - a guide for Employers (word document)
Nannies (article from the Gotham Gazette - 2003)
Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights and FAQ
info about the Town Hall event, Thursday, June 7th
*UPDATED 6/1* more fantastic resources:
-
Our Domestic Workers Deserve a Bill of Rights (NY Daily News, 5/31)
Legislation Pushed to Require Minimum Wage for Domestic Workers (NYTimes, 6/1)
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by salty femme. May 20th, 2007 at 2:31 pmWhat a great idea! I’m there! (here)
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It will be cross-posted at Pandagon tomorrow at noon.
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