More Than A Magazine, A Movement
Domestic workers often endure horrific abuses that go unchecked. Many are brought to the U.S. by employers promising a better life, only to find themselves subjected to forced labor, denied wages, and threatened with deportation.
“All I want as a domestic worker is recognition. Domestic work is seen as a lowly job but it’s a decent job and it’s vital to society. We should not be ignored. We are important.”
Dismissed as “women’s work”—that is, not “really” work—taking care of children, attending to housework, and/or caring for the sick and elderly is both socially and economically invisible labor. It carries little prestige and, for those who do it for a living, very little pay. Yet, as pandemic life and the shrinking economy remind us, it is crucial, demanding labor. Without it, our economy does not function at the household nor at the national level.
A recent survey of more than 20,000 Spanish-speaking domestic workers conducted by the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA) has revealed a rapid and sustained loss of jobs and income that’s resulted in widespread housing and food insecurity.
“These jobs will be a large share of the jobs for future but the lowest paid with little to no access to a safety net,” said Ai-Jen Poo, president of the NDWA. “We need to raise wages and offer benefits to this workforce.”
In California, The Health and Safety for All Workers Act seeks to provide housekeeping and domestic workers with the same protections as most other workers. Importantly, it could compel more states, and even the federal government, to do the same.
A survey examined the COVID impact on Black immigrant domestic workers in NYC, Boston and Miami. The survey results bring about one conclusion: Black domestic workers deserve better.
As states begin to reopen across the country, essential workers and those on the frontlines of fighting COVID-19 have continued to speak up about the need for an increase in government assistance and workplace protections.
“We absolutely need hazardous pay, PPE, sick leave and health insurance.”
“When the COVID-19 crisis hit, it was clear to my husband and me that domestic work deserves dignity and respect and that continuing to pay the house cleaner we employ was the right thing to do.”
“We have been having issues with getting jobs. We have had a lot of cancellations. There is no income. I don’t know if I’m able to pay my rent. We have been excluded from the federal government to pay our rent. We are invisible.”
Hospital cleaners can’t stay home during this pandemic. They’re needed to ensure doctors and patients are safe and have a clean environment to work in. Where is their love?
What policies should Congress members be prioritizing to help women and families affected by coronavirus? How are children in particular most impacted by the pandemic? What aspect of coronavirus should communities be thinking and talking about that are currently being overlooked?
We talk these questions and more with Oakland-based policy group, Forward Together.
