Dear Friend,

We hope that you enjoyed reading the first part of our quarterly newsletter! 

As we dive deeper, we’d like to share highlights of our Domestic Worker and Civic Engagement programs in the recent quarter.

Adhikaar's Summer 2021 Newsletter, Part II

Domestic Worker Program Highlights

Adhikaar's New Jersey Domestic Worker members marching during

the historic launch of the NJ Domestic Worker Bill of Rights.

For International Domestic Worker day on June 16th, we introduced the historic New Jersey Domestic Worker Bill of Rights after nearly three years of campaign planning and base-building! Our Domestic Worker member leader, Santa Ghimire spoke at the press conference and Adhikaar’s NJ Fellow Tsering Thakuri spoke at the march in her native Mustang (Nepali indigenous) language, representing the diverse Nepali-speaking ethnic group that many Domestic Workers in our NJ membership represents. They shared their stories and urged the state to protect Domestic Workers by supporting the bill that would put an end to wage theft, provide paid leave and sick days, and safety and health protections. With the introduction of the bill, we have an opportunity to establish and enforce crucial rights for New Jersey’s 50,000 Domestic Workers.

Adhikaar's Domestic Worker fellow Tsering Thakuri (Left) speaking at the rally,

and member leader Santa Ghimire (Right) speaking at the press conference.

Our campaign committee members were integral to providing feedback and guidance (over the course of 10 meetings) to draft the bill along with coalition partners National Domestic Workers Alliance, Casa Freehold, Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network, Lazos America Unida, Unidad Latina en Acción NJ, New Labor and Wind of the Spirit.

Adhikaar's NYC Domestic Worker members rallying in front of City Hall

On the same day, we rallied in front of City Hall with the NYC Care Campaign to demand human rights for all Domestic Workers in NYC and the passage of Intro 339. This bill will cover Domestic Workers under the NYC administrative code and expand the definition of employer under the human rights law, providing workers with long-overdue protections against discrimination in the workplace, and coverage under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.

NYC Domestic Worker member leader speaking at the rally.

During the event, our member leader Sharada Gurung urged Speaker Johnson to bring #Int339 to the floor for a vote and also inspired other Domestic Worker members who were present at the rally to share their stories. Over 300,000 care and Domestic Workers in New York City continue to be excluded from human rights protections in the workplace.

On July 29, 2021, the Intro. 339 bill was passed in the NYC Council.

This quarter we completed the digital “We Rise” nanny training with members covering topics on worker rights, nutrition, pediatric care, and communication with family. Over the course of six weeks, 19 of our members completed the digital training, where 53% of members had limited literacy. Two of our member leaders also completed the NDWA “We Make History” study session and have become facilitators to train other members on the history of the Domestic Workers movement.

In total we have conducted 13 trainings in the last quarter with over 150 members on topics like 'How a bill becomes a law', Rank choice voting, spokesperson and motivational trainings and a 'Who's who in the government' training in collaboration with the Advocacy Institute. We conducted one-on-one with over 1,000 Domestic Worker members regarding the emergency relief fund, COVID-19 vaccine, nanny training certification and food distribution in both New York and New Jersey.

Civic Engagement Program Highlights

As the NYC local election primary is over, let’s look back to the virtual and in-person activities that we organized to get out the vote!

Adhikaar's Civic Engagement team heading towards Jackson Heights, Queens for community outreach before the NYC primary election.

Beginning in April, our team began to conduct voter registration at our vaccine appointment lines and food distribution lines. We organized phone and text banking sessions, made over 10,000 calls and spoke with more than 1,100 voters in New York over eight weeks, counting down to the primary elections to educate Nepali-speaking voters on Ranked Choice Voting and voter rights. In June, we did street outreach at local businesses in Jackson Heights and also sent mailers to over 3,000 Nepali-speaking voters with APA VOICE.  In partnership with DemocracyNYC, we created voting pamphlets, graphics, and videos in Nepali for social media and for Nepali ethnic media outlets.

As part of the NYC Care Campaign, our Domestic Worker members took an active part in the NYC local primaries. We hosted the NYC Council Candidates forum for District 26, focusing on the concerns of the Domestic Worker members in the district (attended by 60+Domestic Worker members). They also attended multiple City Council, NYC Comptroller and NYC Mayoral candidate interviews, and member leaders Mohini Karmacharya, Ramita Maharjan, Debu Lama and Sunita Hamal presented the need for a city-wide retirement program for Domestic Workers.

As part of the federal ‘Care is Essential’ campaign our members Aruna Baskota and Sundari Rai spoke on a panel about the need for comprehensive care infrastructure, including living wages, benefits, and a pathway to citizenship. We also participated in CACF's citywide Mayoral Candidates forum and led on the workers’ rights question for the candidates (was attended by nine mayoral candidates).

On a primary day we mobilized volunteers to join AALDEF’s citywide exit poll project to conduct exit surveys of Asian American voters at P.S. 69 in Jackson Heights and ensure that people were able to vote without barriers.

We’ll continue to engage and mobilize our Nepali-speaking community members to get out the vote for the November general elections. If you’d like to volunteer then please call us at (718) 937-1117 or message us on social media!

As always, this important work relies on donations from supporters like you. Help us provide critical support to the Nepal-speaking immigrants and workers and develop leaders for the movement. Donate to Adhikaar today! 

In solidarity,

Pabitra Khati Benjamin,

Executive Director, Adhikaar