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This Labor Day, Domestic Workers See Victory in New York
Posted by: Robin Marty

The first Labor Day was celebrated in New York City in 1882, so it seems only fitting to honor a new development in employment in the city. Last week, Governor David Paterson signed a new law ensuring domestic workers receive the same rights as most other employees of the state.

Via the New York Post:

Gov. Paterson yesterday signed into law the nation's first measure to safeguard the rights of domestic workers, guaranteeing the unsung household heroes such benefits as paid time off and protections against discrimination.

A small army of nannies, caregivers for the elderly and housekeepers -- mostly women and immigrants -- erupted in cheers when Paterson put pen to paper to make the bill law at a ceremony in Harlem.

"They are the structure and function of our society. They have been the skeleton and underpinning of our success," said Paterson.

"They are the wind beneath our wings, and we have totally disrespected them until today."

Under the new law, the state's estimated 280,000 domestic workers -- previously excluded from virtually all labor laws -- will have rights other workers have long taken for granted.

They will be entitled to overtime pay at time and half if they work more than 40 hours a week -- or 44 hours a week for live-in staff -- as well as three paid days off annually, after a year of working for a family. In addition, employers must now give their household staff at least one day off for every seven days worked, or else pay them at an overtime rate.

Domestic Workers United had been working to pass the bill, which was an attempt to bring legal regulation to an industry that is almost exclusively female, predominantly filled by immigrants, and reports a myriad of staff abuses, primarily due to ignorance on the part of the employer or lack of recourse on the part of the employee.

According to the American Prospect:

[Domestic Workers United Director Priscilla] Gonzalez says problems facing the domestic work force are many: They're decentralized, so they can't organize in the same ways as other workers. Many labor laws don't address them, so they lack a legal route to seek redress if their employer mistreats them. In the New York metro area, the roughly 200,000 households that employ domestic workers are varied and often uninformed of the rules. Ninety-nine percent of the work force is female, and 95 percent are immigrants, an oft-exploited group doing work that's already devalued because it's domestic. And 60 percent of domestic workers are heads of households, so problems the women face reverberate through their own households and their communities.

Although this is a first of its kind bill, as an equal rights issue it can only be expected to eventually spread throughout the country, offering protections for all domestic workers regardless of their location.