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Christina Mendoza
University of Michigan
New Perspectives on Domestic Workers Labor Organizing
Recently, the New York city council was presented with a bill that could change
the lives of domestic workers around the city. An active labor organization, Domestic
Workers United (DWU), is taking steps to protect and improve the working conditions of
nannies, live-in housekeepers, housecleaners, and babysitters around the city. The bill
that was proposed to the city council calls for families hiring domestic workers to draft an
official contract that would guarantee their basic rights as employees in this country. The
demands in this contract include payment of at least the minimum wage, compensations
for hours spent on overtime, eight paid holidays, one week’s severance pay for each year
of work, and other benefits, such as compensation for transportation for those who live
outside the city and some health coverage (Greenhouse 2002, Zorabedian 2002).
When looking at these demands, they may not seem so radical or extreme, but in
the case of domestic work, an occupation that has been traditionally exploited and given
little respect or value (Rollins 1985), these demands translate into dramatic changes for
both employers and domestics
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. Initiatives by domestic worker organizations such as the
DWU demonstrate the efforts of many of these women to change the structure of their
occupation. Cleaning, cooking, and caring for children are tasks that have been
historically perceived as having little or no value, especially since this work is relegated
as “woman’s work.” Therefore women who are hired to perform these tasks typically are
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By the use of the terms domestic, domestic worker, and domestic servant, here I am referring to women
who work for a wage as nannies, live-in housekeepers, and housecleaners.
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Convention