Labor & Economy
Domestic Workers and Their Children Rally to Campaign for Rights
Over 300,000 California housekeepers, nannies and personal attendants provide support and care to seniors and people with disabilities, putting in long hours caring for an estimated two million households.
Over 300,000 California housekeepers, nannies and personal attendants provide support and care to seniors and people with disabilities, putting in long hours caring for an estimated two million households. With no overtime protections, they suffer exhaustion, damage to their health and that of their clients, and can’t earn enough to pay their own bills. In a recent survey, 76 percent of domestic workers still reported working more than 45 hours a week, with 24-hour shifts being common.
The California Domestic Workers Coalition started fighting for a bill of rights for domestic workers seven years ago, to give the same overtime protection to the state’s domestic workers that most other workers already have. California did pass these protections three years ago. But the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights had a flaw — Governor Jerry Brown insisted that it had to come up for reapproval after three years or it would disappear.
Last week domestic workers, their children and the clients with disabilities they care for marched on the California state Capitol to support a bill that would eliminate the sunset provision on their overtime protection. The State Senate passed Senate Bill 1015 several months ago, which would make the bill of rights permanent. The State Assembly has started to consider it and the coalition hopes it will pass before the legislature’s session ends at the end of August.
According to one domestic worker, Honorata Nono of Filipino Advocates for Justice, “Caregiving is overlooked and undervalued. We take care of the most vulnerable people who need constant care. The people under our care also deserve love, respect and dignity. The Domestic Workers Bill of Rights means economic justice and permanent dignity for us all!”
-
Latest NewsFebruary 22, 2024
The Rising Cost of the Oil Industry’s Slow Death
-
Reinvesting in AmericaMarch 5, 2024
A Foundry’s Closure Devastated This Tennessee Town But a New Lithium Plant Is Giving It Hope
-
State of InequalityMarch 15, 2024
Long Beach Hotel Workers on Track to Earn the Highest Minimum Wage in the Nation
-
State of InequalityFebruary 22, 2024
Why Labor Is Losing Even as It Wins
-
Latest NewsMarch 6, 2024
Why Has the White Working Class Embraced Trump?
-
California UncoveredMarch 18, 2024
A California Program to Get Produce to Low-Income Families Is a Hit. Now It Is Running Out of Money.
-
Latest NewsFebruary 23, 2024
Wood Pellet Mills in California: A Blessing or a Boondoggle?
-
State of InequalityMarch 7, 2024
Why It Is Time for Newsom and the Legislature to Get Serious About Mental Health in California