A Campaign for Basic Domestic Workers Rights

11/3/02

Domestic Workers, nannys and housekeepers, are among the most oppressed workers in the US. Numbering in the hundreds of thousands, they often work under harsh conditions and also have the least rights of all workers.

Among those most abused and vulnerable are foreign domestic workers, who work for diplomats and coporate executives. Employers will often make domestic workers work six days a week, deny them pay, sexually assault and physically abuse them. Many of these workers are form poor backgrounds in Asian countries such as the Philippines. With foreign domestic workers, the workers’ legal status in the US depend on their employment in their domestic worker positions. This leaves employers' a tremendous threat to hold over their heads. The growth of the number of these workers has coincided with the growth of global capitalism.

In New York Andolan, a South Asian group, and CAAAV, a pan-Asian group, are organizing a campaign for domestic workers. Their campaign has four main goals: a standard contract for domestic workers, City Council legislation to improve employment agencies placement practices, a City Council resolution in recognizing the value of domestic workers, and raising public consciousness about domestic workers' issues.

Together with other immigrant groups, they have formed the Domestic Workers United, a cross-racial domestic workers group. They have also organized classes so that these workers can be better informed of their rights. Often, because many of these workers lack of legal status when they leave abusive work situations, Andolan and CAAAV’s only resort is public protests and attention. They are working with NYU Immigrant Rights Law Clinic to have the City Council hold placement agencies accountable to these standards.

Other organizations in New York like the Pilipino Workers Center (see past articles) and Workers Awaz have also taken up Domestic Workers issues of Pilipino and South Asian workers, respectively.

from Kalayaan