Happy International Domestic Worker’s Day!
Posted March 30th, 2011 by Ai-jen PooDear Friends,
Today is International Domestic Worker Day.
Over two million domestic workers will go to work around the country today, and with great love and care – they will ensure the health and well-being of our loved ones and our homes. In most of those homes, no one will know it is Domestic Workers Day. But we do. And we have a lot to celebrate. We celebrate the daily contributions of domestic workers to our communities and we celebrate a growing movement that is making history in big and small ways daily.
On Monday, in honor of Women’s History Month and the 100th Anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, the Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis and the Chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls Valerie Jarrett welcomed Allison Julien, a nanny and member of Domestic Workers United to the White House to speak about the challenges and dreams of women workers today. She became the first domestic worker to speak at the White House. A third generation domestic worker, she talked about America’s “best kept secret,” our domestic workforce. You can watch the event at this link:
Please let the Department of Labor know how much you appreciated this event, and hearing the stories of women workers organizing. Email Phil Tom with your comments. Tom.Philip@dol.gov.
The entire staff of the National Domestic Workers Alliance is in San Francisco today at the historic Women’s Building for a press conference to highlight the California Domestic Workers Bill of Rights Campaign and to continue building toward the next victory. The California campaign is in an important moment and needs your support. For all of the defensive campaigns that we as a labor and women’s movement are engaged in to protect the hard-won victories of the past, we also need proactive victories to continue to orient us around the possible. Please forward the information about the California campaign on our website www.domesticworkers.org to your friends and contacts in California, and get involved.
In Celebration,
Ai-jen
3 Comments
April 7, 2011 at 10:47 am by ufdwrPlease support the campaign for domestic workers
http://apps.facebook.com/petitions/1/support-domestic-workers/
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April 1, 2011 at 6:49 pm by AnitaMany, many thanks to you Ai-jen for your tireless advocacy to ensure rights and dignity for all workers. And congratulations to Allison– what an honor!
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April 1, 2011 at 2:54 pm by ChrisWhile I cannot afford a nanny, I can’t help but think that the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights will make sure that I will not ever afford one, nor will many others who currently do. Or maybe we will be left with the only option of hiring an unemployed distant relative, instead.
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