All in a Day’s Work

New York City domestic workers organize for their rights

By Tomio Geron
Special to AsianWeek

Imagine a job where you can’t leave your workplace, make below minimum wage, and fear each day that you’ll be unemployed. This is the life of a domestic worker — a job Justina Dilla, a Malaysian immigrant in New York City, knows well.

In 1999, Dilla wanted to leave her job working as a housekeeper for a demanding psychiatrist. But she was discouraged by an employment agency that told her she would not get another job because of her age — Dilla is in her 60s — and undocumented status. When Dilla was injured on the job, she continued to work to make ends meet, but her employer refused to pay her hospital bills or compensate for the injury. Now, three years later, she suffers from chronic back pain.

Along with the lack of these basic rights, Dilla contends that domestic workers face a lack of respect.

“The city could not run without the important labor of domestic workers,” Dilla said at a recent meeting in the Bronx. “We are bringing up their children to be good citizens, and look how they’re treating us.”

Because vacation time or pay, sick pay and health benefits are rare in the industry, these organizing efforts are crucial. But forget vacation pay, said Jing (who did not want to use her last name) a member of Domestic Workers United (DWU), the group spearheading domestic worker organization.

“[My employer] didn’t even give me a day off,” Jing said, who came to New York from Hong Kong. Jing said that she was only allowed to leave the house with the child that she cared for. “I couldn’t even go to church.”

Jing’s employer verbally abused her and held her money and passport, she said. She had difficulty negotiating with her employer over work conditions, and with the isolation of being in someone else’s home, options seemed few and far between.

But now, workers and organizers have gotten the New York City Council to consider Intro 96, a groundbreaking bill that will provide new protections for nannies and housekeepers. The bill would impose a “code of conduct” on employers who hire domestics through employment agencies. The code covers the employer’s legal obligations under state and federal laws such as minimum wage, overtime and Social Security pay, which would help enforce a minimum standard for the industry. Under the proposal, employment agencies, which place up to 50 percent of domestics in the city, must also obtain signatures from employers acknowledging the code, or face a fine or imprisonment for up to one year.

Carolyn H. de Leon, organizer with Domestic Workers United.

“Abuse has always been the norm in this industry,” said Ai-jen Poo, an organizer with DWU. “The abuse goes unchecked partly because immigration laws and enforcement practices actually punish exploited workers, not their abusive employers, keeping workers in fear of reporting abuse. Since Sept. 11, it’s become even worse.”

Undocumented workers in the industry are common, and they often receive lower wages and work longer hours — due to the fear of deportation. But advocates hope Intro 96 will give more support for workers who want to stand up for their rights. A resolution attached to the current bill calls for the use of a standard contract including benefits such as health care, vacation and sick days. And though it would not be a binding law, the resolution also calls for reforms in federal and state labor laws that currently exclude domestics.

“It’s very important that we have a contract to follow so employers won’t abuse workers,” Jing said. “We can say, look, we can fight back.”

DWU, a coalition of Asian, Caribbean, African and Latina immigrant women, has brought together housekeepers, nannies, elderly companions and postnatal nurses from various backgrounds.

“Since we’re all working in a domestic setting, we know how hard it is,” Jing said. “So we really try to help each other even though we’re of different nationalities.”

Just a few years ago, domestics were dismissed in their quest for recognition because of the conception that domestic work is not “real work” or because of the conflation with unpaid women’s work in the home or because of just plain racism. But now after years of organizing, politicians, employers and agencies are listening.

Carolyn H. de Leon, a Filipina organizer with Communities Organized Against Asian American Violence (CAAAV) and DWU, has been talking to domestics in parks, churches and elsewhere to build the worker organization. DWU has grown considerably since its inception in 2000, recently organizing demonstrations against abusive employers and holding frequent meetings. Last year, the alliance started a “nannies training course” to give information to workers on their rights as well as job training skills.

But one of the things they are most proud of, says de Leon — herself formerly a nanny for 10 years — is the important role the women workers themselves have played in the organizing efforts.

“We really believe that women can change their own situation and determine their future,” said de Leon, who recently led a rally at City Hall to support the bill.

In February, DWU met with new council member Gale Brewer and asked her to sponsor the domestic workers bill in the City Council. Brewer, a self-defined women’s rights advocate, quickly agreed to be the bill’s primary sponsor, despite the fact that many of her Upper West Side constituents employ domestics. The bill was co-sponsored by the council’s deputy majority leader, Bill Perkins, as well as council members John Liu, Charles Barron and Christine Quinn.

“This bill is very important,” Brewer said. “We’re a city of immigrants. That’s why we’re great in New York. [West Siders] understand everyone deserves fair working conditions.”

The bill was introduced in March and is awaiting the support of the mayor’s office before it comes up for a vote, which could occur this fall. DWU already has the support of community groups such as the New York Immigration Coalition and unions such as the New York City AFL-CIO Central Labor Council.

A member of Andolan (Organizing South Asian Workers) at a recent press conference and rally at City Hall to support a bill protecting the rights of domestic workers.

Some employment agencies oppose the bill, saying it unfairly penalizes licensed companies. These companies blame unlicensed agencies, which — they say — are the cause of the majority of abuse in the industry.

“It’s duplication of effort and it’s only going to hurt licensed agencies,” Jerry Bohne, owner of Adele Poston Domestic Agency, told the City Council at a hearing in May. “What you’re looking to do is get after the illegal agencies. The illegal agencies are the ones that are illegally charging fees to applicants.”

But council member Allan Jennings disagreed at the hearing: “This law aims at addressing all parties, legal or illegal, and all employers. They must abide by the code of conduct.”

Domestic workers are protected under federal labor laws, which include minimum wage and overtime pay requirements. Some employment agencies say the bill would be redundant to federal laws. But advocates argue that such rules are often not followed, and the bill would provide necessary protection for domestics.

“Very few domestic workers have a regular work day,” said Nahar Alam, an organizer with Andolan, a South Asian workers organization that is part of DWU. “Many work 16 to 18 hours a day, six or seven days a week.”

A Nationwide Movement

The movement for domestic workers is not confined to New York City alone. In Los Angeles, the Coalition for Humane Rights of Immigrants in Los Angeles (CHIRLA) has been organizing domestic workers since 1987.

Rossana Perez, a CHIRLA organizer, sees inspiration in the efforts of organizers in New York. “I think the [New York] bill is a great effort. Hopefully we in California can also help people to that end,” she said.

Perez sees similar conditions to New York workers with the estimated 80,000-100,000 domestics in the greater Los Angeles area. “The majority are not covered by any kind of benefits; they’re on their own. If they get sick, they get no money.”

CHIRLA has been outreaching to workers to inform them of their rights, including California’s $6.75 minimum wage that went into effect this year.

’eanweanwhile in New York, DWU now plans to get a similar statewide measure passed in Albany. In the meantime, it is optimistic about the city bill.

“We’ve never had a bill on this issue before. I hope that even if this bill comes out, there will be another one,” said Alam. “It’s not 100 percent, but this is the beginning.”