Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/24680
In cities around the U.S., women who work in other’s homes are emerging from their isolation to fight for decent wages and humane conditions. A New York group is on the cutting edge of the movement, forming cross-cultural alliances to picket, push legislative reform— even conduct public shamings of exploitative employers. BY PREMILLA NADASEN FOR MORE THAN TWO YEARS, IRENE, a Colombian woman in her mid- 60s, slept in the sewage-filled basement of a house in the New York City area. Upstairs, she worked an average of 72 hours a week—cleaning, cooking and caring for a disabled boy. Her wages: less than $2 an hour. When Irene (not her real name) was suddenly fired without notice or severance, she was distraught, despite the privations she’d endured. “[My boss] offered no explanation. I asked her for permission to stay in the house that night. …I could not even sleep thinking about where I would go next.” Her story would have remained unknown, her former employers unchallenged, had she not come upon Domestic Workers United (DWU), a New York City organization fight- ing for the rights of an estimated 200,000 housekeepers, nannies and caregivers for the elderly. DWU demanded back pay and a public apology from Irene’s employers, and launched a boycott of the Italian restaurant they owned. It also led a public “shaming” out- side the house where Irene had given so much for so little compensation. “Tell Dem Slavery Done” read the signs held by protestors, appropriating Old South vernacular for today’s version of servitude. 38 | FALL 2009 www.feminist.org