The moment for celebration is almost here: After 400 years in the shadows of slavery, 75 years of invisibility and exclusion under US labor law, and 6 years of a hard-fought struggle in the New York State legislature, domestic workers are about to gain the rights, respect, and recognition they deserve!Tomorrow,Tuesday, August 31 at 11 am, New York Governor David Paterson is scheduled to sign the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights into law. The bill, which Ms. Foundation grantee Domestic Workers United spent years fighting to get passed, will provide basic workplace standards and protections for domestic workers, including overtime pay, paid vacation and sick days, and the guarantee of at least one day of rest per week.
This is truly a historic moment for domestic workers in New York -- and across the country. If you're in New York metro area, you can help celebrate this remarkable win by attending tomorrow's signing, which will take place at the Dwyer Cultural Center, located at 123rd Street between St Nicholas Avenue and Frederick Douglass Boulevard. Doors open at 10:15am; program begins at 11am SHARP. If you plan to attend, please RSVP to dwuinfo@domesticworkersunited.org.
We applaud Domestic Workers United, the National Domestic Workers Alliance (an organization working at the national level to ensure domestic workers' rights that was birthed out of DWU and the US Social Forum,) and all of the other organizations and individuals whose support and hard work made this victory possible. But most of all, we congratulate the domestic workers of New York -- who finally have something to cheer about!
Photo: by Elizabeth Rappaport. Domestic Workers United March, New York City, October 2008.
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