Reporting back from International Domestic Workers Day
“Today we make the urgent call to Corey Johnson to approve Intro 339 for the support of human rights to domestic workers. We demand protection, security, freedom from discrimination, respect, dignity, and that our contributions and growth to this nation are valued.”
Last Wednesday we joined our NYC Care Campaign partners Adhikaar, Hand in Hand, and the National Domestic Workers Alliance, to celebrate International Domestic Workers Day and urge Council Speaker Corey Johnson to bring Intro339 to a vote. We gathered in front of City Hall, grounding ourselves in the history of International Domestic Workers Day (which you can read more about below), inviting workers and employers to share why passing Intro339 is so critical and ending with a flash mob dance! Be sure to click the link below to watch the recording, which includes CGA member Rocio Aguilar powerfully sharing her testimony.
It’s not too late to help out the campaign! You can sign our petition targeting Speaker Johnson to bring #Int339 to the floor and make sure Domestic Workers are protected. Click Here to Sign
What is International Domestic Workers Day?
International Domestic Workers Day, June 16, celebrates the 2011 passage of the International Labor Organization Convention 189 for Decent Work for Domestic Workers. Domestic workers from around the world came together to fight to establish this international law. The landslide victory represented a historic step forward towards domestic work being recognized as work like any other and establishing fundamental labor protections. The short film Conventional Wisdom / Sabiduría Convencional chronicles the passage of C189.
After winning C189, we domestic workers could focus our attention on building a strong, democratic and united global organization for domestic workers to protect and advance domestic workers’ rights everywhere. In 2013, we formalized the International Domestic Workers Federation. It is the first, and only, global union federation led by and made up primarily of women, with 67 affiliated domestic worker organizations in 54 countries! Learn more at www.idwfed.org.
CGA is part of a vibrant, global domestic workers movement that will all be celebrating together on June 16! You can connect with other domestic worker groups around the world and share images of your own International Domestic Workers Day celebrations in the IDWF Facebook group.
2021 is a special International Domestic Workers Day because we’re celebrating the 10th anniversary of Convention 189 and everything the International Federation has accomplished in the last 10 years. AND in the U.S. we are on a winning streak of Bill of Rights campaigns, and we’ll be launching the campaign to win our 11th state-level Bill of Rights in New Jersey. So there’s a lot to celebrate this year!