US Social Forum Kicks Off With Domestic Workers Coming Out of the Shadows

Thursday 24 June 2010

by: Yana Kunichoff, t r u t h o u t | Report

US Social Forum Kicks Off With Domestic Workers Coming Out of the Shadows
(Photo: Sasha Y. Kimel)

Joycelyn Gill-Campbell did everything her duty as a housekeeper and nanny for her employers, a couple and their one child in New York, demanded. She wore the traditional white maid's uniform. She walked the dog, in the white uniform. And when the dog got cancer and her employers bought a double stroller, she pushed both the dog and the couple's child in it along the streets of Manhattan - in her white uniform. For these and other services Gill-Campbell, who came to New York from Barbados 14 years ago, earned about $3 an hour - $270 for a 50-60 hour week. The white uniform was free.

As shocking as her story may be, it was one of the less painful in the stories of abuse and exclusion told by former domestic workers on the first day of the US Social Forum at the Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights Campaign workshop. Led by Domestic Workers United (DWU), it related the struggle of DWU to pass the first-ever domestic workers' labor protection law in New York state, and the continuing work by domestic workers themselves to help others all over the country who have fallen through the cracks in labor law.

"Domestic workers are one of only two workforces that have been excluded from the right to collectively bargain," said Ai-Jen Poo, lead organizer and founder of DWU, which covers those working as housekeepers, nannies, elderly caretakers and cooks. "Whether it's because this work is traditionally seen as woman's work or whether it's because this work has historically been done by immigrant women or women of color, it's somehow been okay to exclude domestic workers from every major labor protection to date."

Poo is also the director of a coalition of national domestic workers' rights organizations, the National Domestic Workers Alliance, that was formed during the 2007 Social Forum.

In 2002, DWU successfully petitioned for legislation in New York City which would make employment agencies responsible for informing both employers and workers of employee rights. Then, in March 2005, their work led to the introduction of a Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights in the New York State legislature, which calls for a living wage, health care and basic benefits for all domestic workers - it was being debated in the legislature the morning of the workshop. If passed, it will be the first bill to offer basic labor protections to domestic workers.

Gill-Campbell, through her work with DWU, now earns a living wage as a full-time organizer. At the panel, she spoke about the empowerment of her move from being an underpaid worker who knows "what it is to be treated less than human" to being a pivotal part of the struggle to win protection for the more than 200,000 domestic workers in the New York City metropolitan area.

The slogan the women use for their campaign in the Big Apple is "great campaigns are like great love affairs" in the way they affect a person - "you get consumed, you can't think about anything else," said Poo. "All of the sudden time and space opens up and you get a new lease on life in some ways."

The fact that the struggle is led by the very women it affects helps to subvert "the exclusion from the labor law [which] has been such a symbol and source of disenfranchisement" for women in the industry.

"Too often, the people doing policy advocacy are not the people most directly impacted by the policies themselves," Poo noted. "But we feel it's important that the people who are most directly impacted are at the table at all times.

Premilla Nadasen, an associate professor of African-American history at Queens College, says that workers rights movements for domestic labor have historically been under the radar, both in terms of the law and mainstream organizing.

"Domestic work has been a kind of invisible work on many levels. It is work that takes place in the private household and its work that women have employed for generations without pay." said Nadasen, who worked with the campaign in New York. "Even when someone is hired to do the work and it takes place in the privacy of the home, its not recognized the way other labor is."

However, Nadasen points out, poor and marginalized women organizing is not unprecedented. "The earliest incident we know of was in the 1880's, in Atlanta, a washerwomen strike. Mainly African-American women came together to try to raise their rates of washing and they were very successful in that," she said. "In the 30s, during the Great Depression, in New York in particular many domestic workers turned to day labor and employers would come and try to negotiate the lowest wage ... so in response to those conditions, domestic unions formed in New York City."

"I think the domestic workers rights movement is really sort of an alternative to how we think about labor organizing in a number of different ways," said Nadasen. "The premise of most labor organizing has been [previously] tied to the manufacturing sector."

To minimize the exploitation of domestic workers until a comprehensive bill is passed, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREC) have been working to educate and organize employers themselves in the New York area. Working with their program Shalom-Bayit, peace in the home, JFREC works to "get people to admit they're a boss in their own home" through Jewish community organized events and living room gatherings. Once employers take responsibility for their positions, says Lane Levin, a member and organizer, "their political analysis moves to the left" and they start using words like race and class - and following fair labor practices such as overtime pay, a rarity in the domestic work industry.

The six immigrant women on the panel spoke in colorful accents, some in Spanish, about what they had variously endured during their time as domestic workers - months of work for which they never received any pay, severe restrictions on leaving the house of their employer, psychological intimidation and verbal abuse.

They are now organizers on Long Island, in Maryland and California, who hail originally from Nepal, Mexico and Barbados.

In her work with DWU, Nadasen has found bonds stretching across cultures particularly impressive. "Culture acts as a bond to exchange knowledge with one another," said Nadasen. "I think there is a way in which we can think of organizing efforts that subsume culture or subsume race. And what I've seen in Domestic Workers United is really a way in which they integrate their cultural and their racial background." DWU organizing meetings, like the workshop, always have a number of translators on hand and work officially in English, French and Spanish.

The importance of inclusion means that undocumented workers would also be protected in the legislation for which DWU is fighting. Because of the contradictions in labor law, even people who are technically not allowed to work are protected by labor laws once employed, Poo said. Technically, the bill of rights would cover all domestic workers regardless of status, though this does not deal with the issue of fear. "I always tell our undocumented workers, if you are not organized, you are vulnerable in isolation."

The Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights campaign, says Nadasen, is even having an effect beyond the people it's organizing for. "I think that domestic workers are really reshaping the meaning of domestic labor in this country. The concept of labor particularly in this day and age needs to be rethought, that model of somebody working in the manufacturing sector is no longer the model for most workers, who work in multiple jobs and move frequently from place to place. Because of that the thinking of how to organize workers needs to be rethought; what does it mean to organize workers in the 21st century?"

And DWU "has done a phenomenal job of demonstrating how this sector can organize across racial and ethnic lines - they have blown me away."

For Gill-Campbell and the other women, who continue to scour parks and laundromats in their adopted hometowns looking for the signs of a domestic worker in an abusive situation, saying enough is enough has been long overdue. But they will continue to say it until they are heard - "we will not take this anymore."

This work by Truthout is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.

Comments

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I'm glad to see domestic

Thu, 06/24/2010 - 16:35 — Anonymous (not verified)

I'm glad to see domestic workers being represented in the fight for workers' equity in general.

Let's not confuse this situation, however, with the Christian one where we seek out the least of all because theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The struggle of workers is about power--big power, mainstream power. It's an assertion that the means of production belong to the workers. It declares their intention to seize those means of production.

If it isn't that, it's a mere series of gestures. You might as well join a monastery for all the revolution you're going to get out of that.

The first person discussed

Thu, 06/24/2010 - 17:03 — Anonymous (not verified)

The first person discussed in the article--there is no information regarding where she lived. If she was living in the family's apartment, had a room of her own (possibly w/own bath, but probably not) and also got her food, was probably, given that it was in Manhattan, was getting "paid" much much more than the cash amount. Manhattan is an expensive place to live.

I'm not saying it was a great job, well compensated or anything else, but the article fails to offer information that is relevant, i.e., was the employee receiving food & shelter as part of her compensation. That is not uncommon in Manhattan, years ago, when my grandmother was unable to completely take care of herself anymore (she'd fallen one evening & was unable to get up on her own, although she hadn't hurt herself), my mother hired two women (one night, one day) to stay w/her and eventually just one woman, who moved into the spare bedroom. This was in a good part of the city, so rent for an equivalent one bedroom studio, even at that time probably would've been around $1200 to $1500/month and that's years ago. I don't know how much she was paid, although she still keeps in touch w/my mother.

This woman had been a teacher in the nation she'd emigrated (illegally, overstayed a tourist visa).

I support the right of workers (including white collar workers) to organize, but I also appreciate journalists doing their jobs of presenting ALL the facts objectively.

great story BUT lead

Thu, 06/24/2010 - 19:05 — Dave Martin (not verified)

great story BUT lead paragraph says 50-60 hour week for $270 is $3/hour. WRONG! While still way exploitive simple math says 60 hour week for $270 is $4.50/hour. And 50 hours for that pay is $5.40. Incorrect arithmetic weakens any argument.

When my son was very young,

Thu, 06/24/2010 - 19:11 — Diane Hughes (not verified)

When my son was very young, I hired a nanny for about 15-20 hours a week and paid them $10.00-$12.00/hour. However, our family can barely afford our own health insurance. I can't imagine that I could have paid for health insurance for the nanny. Unless the price of health insurance goes down as a result of health care reform, I cannot see any feasible way that a normal middle class family could afford to pay health insurance for a nanny.

Yet, as a psychologist, I believe that children under the age of 18 months truly need concerned, involved one on one care. Which is why I paid well to provide it for my child. Unless our country starts to provide reasonable maternity and paternity leave (as do many European countries), I don't see how it is in the best interest of children of the hard pressed, hard working, under paid middle class to demand they pay for health insurance in our current economy in which it is not subsidized in any way when the only alternative is to put small infants in daycare.

My family has had to go without health insurance ourselves when my husband has been unemployed and while I was self employed. Even if we could have afforded it, pre-existing conditions made it impossible to get.

And if anyone thinks I am wealthy, whining person, I'd like to note that our family has never made more than a gross income before business expense of $65,000/year. I have not had a raise from the managed care panels in which I participate for over 20 years.

Another reason they should

Thu, 06/24/2010 - 20:13 — Anonymous (not verified)

Another reason they should open up Medicare. Since domestic workers are essentially independent contractors. Plus, re @ 22:03, In France, if you're ill at home, the government sends someone over -- so that, too, is covered by their system. This person -- will also cook and clean -- as when a mother comes home from the hospital with a new baby. Or someone has just had surgery. Or whatever. Then, of course, there's the childcare that their citizens are entitled to through the government -- excellent in quality -- if you can't hire a contractor.

I would assert that the story is true, though hard to believe. I know people who hired housecleaners at comparable salaries who were the country illegally because, at one point, I was looking to hire someone temporarily for cleaning because I was incapacitated due to illness. I didn't hire that person because the salary was low -- it didn't seem right -- so I hired a college graduate who had their own business and was charging people about 10. hour -- and this was many, many years ago. [When I returned to school as a single parent, I paid sitters (no cleaning) 10. hour -- and out of student loan money -- which I am still paying back -- a student loan, btw, that didn't produce work in the field I trained for.]

continued I also know that

Thu, 06/24/2010 - 20:15 — Anonymous (not verified)

continued

I also know that temporary agencies -- at least when I was a child -- exploited these workers terribly. Charging the highest of rates to families, but giving the worker almost nothing out of the deal. They were able to do this because the women were illegally in the country and scared. Because my mother once hired a lady through an agency to help her with a temporary cleaning job. As they chatted, the woman shared with my mother how much of the money was actually going to her. My mother offered her the job apart from the agency -- which was against their silly contract -- but the woman was afraid -- and to an irrational point I may add -- because we lived in a big city -- that she would be discovered and lose all jobs with the agency. In fact, she even reported my mother to them for making her this offer. "Slave mentality." Whereupon the agency actually contacted my mother -- who found this ludicrous and basically blew them off.

continued Of course, an

Thu, 06/24/2010 - 20:16 — Anonymous (not verified)

Of course, an immigration bill would help considerably, since undocumented workers are more vulnerable to abuse, and create competition issues for those working in that sector legally. After all, how can a 10./hour person doing just light housework compete with someone for 3./hour doing housework and childcare ?

IMO such a bill should be coupled with modification or trashing of NAFTA, opening Medicare, biometric social security cards (so employers have no more excuses), tougher employer sanctions, and better border regulation in coordination with the Mexican side.

(btw - the woman who

Thu, 06/24/2010 - 20:18 — Anonymous (not verified)

(btw - the woman who reported my mother -- my mother offered her the same amount she was paying the agency.)

Notice btw that the French,

Thu, 06/24/2010 - 20:31 — Anonymous (not verified)

Notice btw that the French, who enjoy this number one in the world medical system, have been out in the streets by the millions demonstrating against cutbacks to their social benefits .. AND .. that newspapers like truthout aren't covering it.

Ah, what we could learn from the French, as a society.

Under the present healthcare

Thu, 06/24/2010 - 21:08 — whaler (not verified)

Under the present healthcare bill, I believe a lot of these workers would go under Medicaid (35,000 per year and under?) -- which is a crappy, wasteful system -- with ridiculous administrative overhead -- and nothing going into real medical care -- healthcare in name only.

"Ah, what we could learn

Thu, 06/24/2010 - 21:17 — whaler (not verified)

"Ah, what we could learn from the French, as a society."

Yes, if we could only get news about it. About how they demonstrate in the streets so quickly, and by the millions. Making their government kneel to them, instead, which is how it's supposed to be.

Do they have a line in the

Thu, 06/24/2010 - 21:39 — G H (not verified)

Do they have a line in the AP guide for what you do when a source's last name is Poo?

It's a true story, I'm sure.

Fri, 06/25/2010 - 00:11 — Anonymous (not verified)

It's a true story, I'm sure. There was no room and board connected with this job. A lot of Mexican women have worked various positions for 3-4/hour. Some with employers who are nice enough people, but there is this grey, fuzzy area about when you step into the question of slavery. And a lot of people have come into the country illegally through the graciousness of hosts sorta oblivious to what they are participating in ... especially when the worker has a number of these clients through word of mouth -- so the individuals contracting don't feel that responsible. Hey, they're getting their house cleaned once a week ! Same with lawn mowing, etc etc. Then we move on into the landscaping business, construction, etc etc . What's really sad is that the employer, in that story -- was probably willing to pay more for the health care of keeping this cancer-ridden dog alive than the salary of a woman taking care of their child. I find that most believable, too, having had run-ins with dog owners who think their animal has more rights than me when they are out for a daily walk. Everyone knows the source is not "Poo." Everyone who supports the rights of American workers, that is.

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US Social Forum Kicks Off With Domestic Workers Coming Out of the Shadows

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