Yesterday, New York Gov. David Paterson signed the Domestic Worker Bill of Rights, a state law passed a couple of months ago that gives domestic laborers almost the same rights most workers have in offices or factories. For many, it's probably true that the protections don't go far enough: It only guarantees nannies, housekeepers, and those in similar positions one day off per week and a minimum of three paid days off after a year of employment.
But it is far better than the status quo. After the Assembly passed the bill, I spoke with Priscilla Gonzalez, director of Domestic Workers United, a New York City group that advocated for the bill. The abuses she cited ranged from the everyday, like parents arriving home five minutes late but not paying overtime, to the really egregious, as when a woman in her 60s was forced to sleep in the basement where the sewage constantly overflowed.
It's worth noting that racism is largely to blame for the fact that domestic workers have been excluded from labor laws -- many housekeepers and nannies in the South were black, and protections for them were left out of New Deal reforms to get Southern Democrats on board. One should also be mindful of the racism that keeps those abuses prevalent today -- many domestic workers are new immigrants and nearly all are women. Mobilizing such a disenfranchised group and securing their rights is a victory in and of itself; protecting them in their workplaces will be even more so.
-- Monica Potts
