Adrianne Shropshire
Examining the lives of Domestic Workers
Many industries, and particularly those that have been organized by unions, have some set of standards by which employers operate. Those standards create the framework for wages, benefits, working conditions, etc. They also make clear for both employer and employee what is expected in that industry.
The word standards is not one that could be used to describe the domestic work industry. A report recently released by Domestic Workers United and the DataCenter shows us an industry lacking in basic worker protections, ambiguity around working conditions for both worker and employer, and an industry that is shrouded in a history of racial exploitation and oppression.
One of the most mind-boggling pieces of the report for me outlines the explicit exclusion of domestic workers from nearly every worker protection law in the land. They simply don't qualify as workers even though they represent a stable workforce in an industry that helps to solidify NYC's role in the global economy. The NLRA (although we don't expect much from this relic) excludes domestic workers from its definition of employee. Domestic Workers are excluded from protection under OSHA and have limited protections under other state and federal laws.
There are a number of other important stats in the report that paint a picture of the lives of domestic workers including:
63% of live-in domestic workers work overtime hours that are almost never compensated for
59% of domestic workers are their family's primary source of income
High percentages of domestic workers have trouble paying basic cost of living expenses
65% of workers are directed to do multiple job functions
Perhaps the most revealing piece of all about what it means to be a domestic worker is the "day in a life" profile of "Carla". Her day begins at 5:00am and ends at 11:00pm. During the course of a day she takes care of both her family and the family of her employer but after giving dinner and baths to her employer’s children, can only make it home in time to lie in bed with her children as they fall asleep.
95% of domestic workers are of color and 93% of those are women. 65% of them are Black and 99% of them are foreign born. The mere resemblance of the Antebellum South in our midst ought to make us want to do right by these women. The Domestic Workers Bill of Rights is a piece of legislation being fought for by domestic workers themselves and is currently under consideration in Albany. It would, at the very least, recognize these women and their work and extend basic protections and workplace standards to them. It is a small piece that could help to redefine this industry.
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Posted at 6:31 AM, Sep 07, 2006 in
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