Calling on New York City to Invest in Domestic Workers
On Thursday, May 5th we joined partners in launching the NYC Coalition for Domestic Work and our budget initiative calling New York City to invest in outreach and education for the over 200,000 domestic workers across the city!
NEW YORK CITY – The NYC Coalition for Domestic Work – composed of the National Domestic Workers Alliance New York Chapter, Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network, Carroll Gardens Association, and Adhikaar – launched their coalition and joint budget initiative campaign last Thursday calling on the New York City Council to fully fund Domestic Work and Employer Empowerment in this year’s budget. This initiative would empower domestic workers and employers to understand their rights, develop financial literacy, and seek legal remedies for workplace violations. They were joined by New York City Comptroller Brad Lander and New York City Council Members Alexa Avilés (D-38), Diana Ayala (D-8), Gale Brewer (D-6), Tiffany Caban (D-22), Carmen De La Rosa (D-10), Shahana Hanif (D-39), Rita Joseph (D-40), Shekar Krishnan (D-25), Mercedes Narcisse (D-46), Lincon Restler (D-33), Carlina Rivera (D-2), Pierina Sanchez (D-14), Lynn Schulman (D-29), Marjorie Velazquez (D-13), Linda Lee (D-23), and Julie Won (D-26).
“You don’t need to tell me how often and how badly domestic labor has been undervalued, undercompensated, made invisible, taken for granted, and described as low-skilled just to justify it,” said Council Member Tiffany Caban (D-22). “I watched my mother do that work every single day of my childhood, and it’s time we honor the hard work domestic workers do with dignity and justice.”
“District 38 is a place of living and a place of work for so many domestic workers and essential workers who have been caring for all of New York City from the beginning,” said Council Member Alexa Avilés (D-38). “We stand here in unity and solidarity with domestic workers in encouraging the City Council to support the Domestic Worker and Employer Empowerment Initiative and fully fund it with no hesitation.”
Domestic workers – the nannies, house cleaners, and home care workers that power our economy and make all other work possible – consist of 94% women, 81% immigrants, and 32% Black workers in New York City. The median annual income among New York City domestic workers is $21,320, far below the poverty threshold. New York State and City have been at the forefront of passing legislation to address the needs of the domestic workforce, from the landmark Domestic Worker Bill of Rights in 2011 to Local Law 88 of 2021 amending the New York City Human Rights Law to include domestic workers. Now, the NYC Coalition for Domestic Work is calling on the New York City Council to ensure more domestic workers have the resources needed to build a better life for themselves and their families.
“Our economy often gets it backwards when we treat taking care of our kids, our elders, and our homes as expendable instead of essential,” said Comptroller Brad Lander. “Domestic workers are organizing for a care economy that emphasizes what’s most important and puts workers at the center, instead of casting them to the margins. We can do that by honoring their work with living wage jobs, good pay, benefits, protections, health care, and job security.”
Deborah Gordon Domestic Worker leader member of NDWA and member leader of WeDiB “In order to correct the historical wrongs of our past, we need to invest in educating workers and employers about the rights we have fought so hard to win,” said Deborah Humes-Gordan, domestic worker and member leader of the National Domestic Worker Alliance’s We Dream in Black New York Chapter. “We have to invest in the care economy and in Black women like myself, and we can do that by making domestic worker voices heard and empowered. We are the experts of our industry, we know what our colleagues need, and we are here to work with the City Council, our agencies, and employers to provide a long lasting solution for generations to come.”
The Domestic Worker and Employer Empowerment Initiative proposes $300,000 to establish a peer-led outreach and education program that will inform domestic workers and their employers about their legal rights and responsibilities, build their capacity to better enforce their rights, and facilitate referrals for key financial and legal services. Workers who successfully utilize the services and understand the benefits of documenting their income, building savings, filing taxes, and recovering unpaid wages they are entitled to under the law would be trained to educate other workers and support them in accessing and navigating services.
“We domestic workers – nannies, care workers, and house cleaners – have been on the front lines, and we still are. We proudly fought for our rights and won them, and we want people to respect them,” said Barbara Lopez, domestic worker leader member of the National Domestic Workers Alliance. “We are committed to our work, we are there for our community, we give care with love, and we work with great dignity. We deserve to be supported by the city and our representatives to make a difference because our work makes all work possible.”
“As domestic employers, we urge the New York City Council to pass the New York City Domestic Worker and Employer Empowerment Initiative,” said Lisa Bernstein, domestic employer and member leader with Hand in Hand. “By passing this proposal in the current budget session, our local government would be taking a step in the right direction, which is acknowledging that there has to be an investment to ensure domestic workers exercise their rights, empowering them as workers to negotiate better contracts, and also empowering employers because they would get the guidance and support needed to be good employers. Many employers are already doing the right thing, and now we need our local government to do the same."
“During the pandemic many domestic workers were out there on the front lines, just like nurses and doctors, putting our lives at risk,” said Yolande Arther, domestic worker and member of Carroll Gardens Association. “We were leaving our own families at home in order to take care of others’ children, clean their homes, and care for their elderly family members. Yet when we asked for health coverage or an extension of the funds for excluded workers, we were denied. The Domestic Worker and Employer Initiative is an opportunity for New York City to acknowledge the work that we do, that we are valuable, that we are essential.”
“As a former nanny of 17 years in New York City and now an organizer with Adhikaar, I am proud to see how our recent wins have brought us here today,” said Namrata Pradhan, Domestic Worker Organizer at Adhikaar. “As someone who personally lost a job due to religious discrimination, I had never spoken publicly about this experience in the past, but once I did, I have been able to motivate other Nepali-speaking domestic worker members in our community to come forward. We won Intro 339, but our work does not stop here. In fact, our work is just beginning. If we cannot implement this law, it will just be a piece of paper, nothing else. This is why we call on the New York City Council to invest in funding for this year’s budget to organize domestic workers and fund the Domestic Worker and Employer Empowerment Initiative.”
