Domestic Workers On The March; Join Them Sat. June 9th
For a person like me, who came of age in the course of the civil rights movement of the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, it was a perfect left-wing storm: Blacks, Asians, Jews, clergy, labor united, demanding dignity and workers' rights. Your chance to march with them is Saturday June 9, 2007. More about that after the jump.
Demanding enactment of a NYS “Domestic Workers Bill of Rights†hundreds of domestic workers – largely, it seemed, West Indian and Asian, packed into the Sanctuary of Judson Memorial Church, listened to their leaders, AFL-CIO president John Sweeny, socialist-author-blogger, Barbara Ehrenreich, State Labor Commissioner M. Patricia Smith and leaders of Jews For Racial & Economic Justice (JFREJ). There was, by the way, lots of great food.
John Sweeny brought the crowd to its feet over and over again with a personal speech about his Irish immigrant, domestic worker mother and bus driver father. He contrasted the benefits missing from his mothers’ work that union unity had won for his fathers: a living wage, overtime, sick leave, health insurance, vacation and pension. Domestic workers are excluded from the definition of employee under many labor laws, laboring individually as child care, cleaners, adult-care workers for individual families. Many of them are undocumented. It is their labor which facilitates the more middle-class two-earner families. Let me say that again: domestic workers are not protected by most of NY's Labor Laws.
While the Spitzer Administration has not endorsed their "Bill of Rights," the presence of State Labor Commissioner M. Patricia Smith was a clear sign to everyone that the Governor is eager to be engaged on these issues. You can help the Domestic Workers union by writing your Assembly Member or Senator and urge support for S.5235/A.628A.
The bill which will be the subject of Senate Labor Committee hearings early next week, has been the subject of this NY Times article and this Jon Tasini blog in the last few days. Read more about Domestic Workers United and join them.
The Domestic Workers plan to march from Washinton Square Park at noon to the African Burial Ground in Lower Manhattan. You can sign up for the March here or just show up (Do you recall Woody Allen's slogan?)
