by Marvin Ramírez
Domestic workers march agains abuse and explotation. (PHOTO BY MARVIN RAMIREZ)
One of the most unprotected segment of the U.S. work force, vented their frustration Friday the 13th on this month, to tell employers: No more abuses, no more exploitation.
A colorful mass of people comprised mostly of women of different ethnic groups marched from 24th Street and Mission and headed to 26th to Valencia Street and returned to Mission St. to end the march at the Women’s Building on 18th Street.
The march was intended to highlight the legal victories where domestic workers have won hundred of thousands of dollars in backpay from employers who fail to pay minimum wage and overtime.
The National Domestic Workers Alliance joined hundreds of workers from Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Boston, Washington DC, Miami, Seattle, Chicago, New York and Denver to share strategies, develop a national agenda, and march for domestic worker rights and dignity.
Domestic workers women march on Nov. 13 on Mission Street in route to the Women Building, where they would be attending workshops to learn how to protect their labor rights. (PHOTO BY MARVIN RAMIREZ)
Immigrant women who work in other people’s homes are subject to many forms of exploitation and abuse. Some employers refuse to allow sick days or pay for overtime; often wages are less than the minimum wage.
For practical purposes, says a written declaration, these women have few enforceable legal protections. So some are getting together to support and protect each other.
A speaker from the AFL-CIO offered verbal support, but these workers are outside the reach of the labor movement — they are banding together to learn to demand their rights and negotiate for themselves.
They are looking into the creation of a California Domestic Worker Bill of Rights and build a national movement of domestic workers.
