One night, after I put their kids to bed, put things away, and started the laundry, I was fired. It was 9pm. No notice, no reason. I had been a live-in nanny for two families for 3 years and 1 year respectively.
I would have been homeless if a friend nearby hadn't let me rent a room.
I have worked as a domestic worker for almost 10 years. I've had a few great employers, but I've suffered too -- and many domestic workers suffer even more than I have.
Because we are EXCLUDED from the most basic workplace protections, millions of Black, Latinx, and Asian immigrant women like me are often in the position of praying employers do the right thing every time we enter a home.
The National Domestic Workers Alliance is ramping up our campaign to correct these injustices, and I’m asking if you can add your name to help us win robust protections for domestic workers?
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With that family, I always worked over 12 hours a day, sometimes even for 20 hours, and never got paid for the extra hours. When I went away with the family for Easter, I could not have Easter as a day off. They threatened to fire me if I even asked for that Sunday off.
I didn't know what my rights were — but now I do and it makes me angry, because we have so few. As domestic workers there still are labor laws and protections that don't apply to us.
Caregivers, housecleaners, and other domestic workers like me are EXCLUDED from the most basic workplace protections like sexual harassment, overtime pay, and paid sick leave — but the National Domestic Workers Alliance is gearing up to change this at long last.
John, will you join our push to urgently ramp up pressure to end this discrimination against domestic workers?
Sincerely,
Lara da Costa
National Domestic Workers Alliance
