The High Holidays are the Time to Help Domestic Workers
Domestic Workers Photo Exhibit Event, August 10, 2013, Quincy, MA
by Marya Axner
Regional Director, New England Jewish Labor Committee
[From Boston's newspaper, The Jewish Advocate, issue dated August 23, 2013]:
As Labor Day and Rosh Hashanah approach, I would like to discuss a labor issue that is close to home. In fact, this issue is in our homes. I am talking about the rights and the dignity of the nannies, housecleaners and caregivers that take care of our homes and families.
This year, the New England Jewish Labor Committee is gearing up to support the Massachusetts Coalition for Domestic Workers in its legislative campaign for a Massachusetts Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights. The committee is calling on the Jewish community, and in particular, the employers of domestic workers, to help.
The proposed Bill of Rights would establish basic workplace rights for domestic workers employed in private homes, including meal and rest breaks; clarity on what constitutes work time; job-protected sick time; and freedom from discrimination and sexual harassment.
In Massachusetts, unlike many states, domestic workers already have minimum wage and overtime protections. In 1970, Mary Evans Wilson, a recruiter for the NAACP, championed An Act Making Domestic Employees Subject to the Labor Laws, which provided for those protections. She and her sisters were combating decades of historical exclusion of domestic workers from labor law dating back to 1938 when the Fair Standards Labor Act was passed. Because U.S. Representatives from the South did not want their black workers to have the rights that other workers had, they lobbied to exclude domestic workers and agricultural workers from labor laws. Northern Representatives acquiesced, and the exclusion became law.
Domestic Workers at 13th New England Jewish Labor Committee Annual Labor Seder on March 19, 2013, at headquarters of IBEW Local 103, Dorchester, MA. Marya Axner is third from left.
Unfortunately, that piece of racism continues in U.S. law today, and is reflected in the realities of many domestic workers who comprise one of the most vulnerable groups of workers in the United States today. The majority of domestic workers are women of color, and female immigrants, who work long hours for low pay. Because they're working in private homes that are essentially invisible to the public eye, employers often take advantage of them, not paying them what they owe them, or requiring them to stay later than scheduled. Sexual harassment is not uncommon on the job.
I understand that this is a delicate issue. We are talking about intimate relationships. We are talking about people who help our children with homework, listen to them cry when they scrape their knees, and tend to the needs of our parents or grandparents. We are talking about people who come into our homes every day to cook our meals and clean our homes. We are talking about people who make it possible for us to go to work every day by caring for our homes and our families. Many of us even consider them to be part of our families. What better way to honor their work than to speak up in solidarity with them for their rights and dignity?
Personally, I am excited about working on this bill for several reasons. First, I see this as a Jewish issue. Our history and religion beckon us to do right by our workers, which positions us to take a leadership role. We know to "not oppress the hired laborer who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your people or one of the strangers in your land within your gates." (Deuteronomy 24:14) This is only one of many texts that support the just treatment of workers.
Second, this bill gives me, as a Jewish woman, an opportunity to be an ally to women of color and immigrant women. By providing care for our loved ones, these women have made it possible for Jewish women to work and lead in our communities. Shouldn't we, in turn, help them to be treated with dignity and have better working conditions? In 2010, the allied Jewish community in New York played a critical role in passing a similar bill. Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ) started the "Shalom Bayit" ("Peace in the Home") campaign to organize Jewish individuals and institutions to advocate for the New York Domestic Workers Bill of Rights. Many synagogues and other nonprofits joined in that campaign, recruiting employers to speak up about the need for fair working conditions for domestic workers, and to commit to improving their own employment practices. Many people held living room talks for their friends or gave presentations in their synagogues. They lobbied their state legislators and went to Albany to campaign for the bill.
Finally, this campaign isn't about placing the blame on a specific employer or corporation. Rather, it is about looking inward to consider our own role in the employer-worker relationship. It requires us to think about what it means to treat our employees justly. Even those of us who care deeply about our workers, and do our best to treat them well, may not be aware of some protections that all domestic workers need but do not have. The Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights takes the guesswork out of how to employ workers and ensures that employers receive a higher level of care for their homes and families as well, because when workers are treated with dignity, they are more likely to do their jobs well.
This campaign may require us to change. We have a rich opportunity to examine our values and our actions and to do t'shuvah (doing repentance and changing your ways). What better time than now, when the High Holidays are close upon us?
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For more information on this campaign, contact Marya Axner.