Organizing Domestic Workers: The National Domestic Workers Alliance
Over the last decade, in large cities throughout the United States,
domestic workers have begun organize themselves, creating a powerful
movement. With the support of worker centers and immigrant community
organizations, domestic workers have united to demand justice, respect,
dignity and better working conditions. This rising movement has already
achieved many victories, including the establishment of worker-owned
cooperatives; winning over 2 million dollars in unpaid wages for
exploited domestic workers; the establishment of training programs for
domestic workers to know and defend their rights, and to better
understand how governments and employers benefit from their labor and
migration; and legislative victories at the city and county levels. In
2003, domestic workers pressed the New York City Council to pass a bill
requiring placement agencies to obtain signed promises from employers to
respect minimum wage, overtime and Social Security obligations. Several
years later, the women of CASA de Maryland led a successful campaign for
a bill requiring employers in Montgomery County to provide workers with
written wage and benefits contracts. Most recently, the domestic
workers movement achieved an historic gain with national coordination
and the establishment of the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA)
at the U.S. Social Forum in Atlanta, Georgia in June of 2007.
The National Domestic Workers Alliance is a vehicle for domestic
workers to build power nationally. Its mission is to organize to improve
the living and working conditions of domestic workers; win respect and
justice from employers and the government; challenge the racism and
sexism that has led to the persistent devaluing of this labor so that
workers, their children, and the general public honor the dignity of
domestic work; end the exclusion of domestic workers from recognition
and protection as a workforce; build a movement of migrant workers
fighting the inhumane impacts of globalization; and continue a brave
legacy of resistance by supporting organizing efforts among all workers
and communities for justice.
The National Domestic Workers Alliance spent its first year
formalizing its structure and strengthening relationships among the
initial 15 member groups located in 10 cities nationally. This included
organizational exchanges among member organizations where organizing
practices were shared and workers told the stories of their experiences.
Member groups kept in contact through monthly calls and came together
in the first National Domestic Workers Congress in New York City, at
Barnard College, in June. At the Congress, new organizing initiatives
in Seattle, Denver, Houston and Miami received support and resources to
help build their local work, and organizations received training in the
history of domestic work and understanding gender and migration. Key
discussions included a dialogue among existing national alliances such
as Jobs with Justice and Grassroots Global Justice to share lessons, and
a discussion on important issues of our time and their impact on
domestic work, including the presidential elections, climate change and
war. A Coordinating Committee was established through an elections
process and the basic outline of a workplan for 2009Ð2010 was approved.
Since its inception, the NDWA has grown to 19 member organizations in
11 cities. Recognizing that member organizations have a range of
capacities, experiences, and abilities to engage in organizing and/or
base building activities in their respective communities, one continued
focus of the NDWA is supporting emerging domestic worker organizations
and creating opportunities for organizational exchange. To bring member
organizations together in support of local work, to plan campaigns, and
to discuss the workplan at the regional level, two regional congresses
took place in 2009: the Eastern Regional Congress at Barnard College in
June, and the Western Regional Congress at Laney College in Oakland in
November. The NDWA National Training Institute, a forum for member
organizations to share their rights- and skills-trainings and political
education curricula, participated in both Congresses. At the Eastern
Regional Congress, 100 workers from 11 organizations took part in
trainings, workshops and planning discussions. Key discussions focused
on the economic crisis, particularly its causes and how it has impacted
immigrant women workers and communities. A panel of workers and
feminist scholars discussed the importance of building solidarity among
women.
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