WASHINGTON —The National Domestic Workers Alliance is taking its drive for a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights national, combining an online petition with extensive testimony before sympathetic Democrats on the House Workforce Protections Subcommittee.
Illinois, Oregon, California, Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico and Virginia, plus Seattle and Philadelphia, have passed their own Domestic Workers Bill of Rights. NDWA founder Ai-jen Poo and C. Nicole Mason, a PhD who heads the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, laid out the case for a nationwide statute on July 28.
“You will find domestic work is much more than meets the eye. They are teachers, nurses, confidants, coaches, event planners and much more” and should be treated with respect and rights many other workers now have, such as overtime pay, Ai-jen Poo urged.
If approved, HR4826, the National Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, would do just that. It would ensure the nation’s 2.2 million-plus domestic workers “access to a safe workplace,” by setting standards their employers must meet.
Besides overtime pay, it would give them sick leave and “protection from discrimination and harassment,” she testified. And it would “afford domestic workers the right to meal and rest breaks, establish written agreements to ensure clarity on roles and responsibilities and protect against losing pay due to last minute cancellations,” an NDWA fact sheet says.
“A standards board will allow employers,...
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