THURSDAY: Domestic workers breaking down doors to power in Seattle
Councilmember Mosqueda to introduce breakthrough legislation which would establish a Domestic Workers Standards Board with the power to address wages, benefits, training, and other issues in the industry
Nannies, house cleaners, and other domestic workers in Seattle are breaking down doors to win higher standards and a voice at work. City Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda will introduce a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights in committee Thursday which will take domestic workers from invisible to powerful.
After generations of exclusion from basic federal labor rights, domestic workers in Seattle are leading the way to a new model of worker power.
Who: Nannies, house cleaners and other domestic workers with the Seattle Domestic Workers Alliance. They will be joined by City Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda.
What: Announce introduction of landmark Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, share stories, visually break through doors, then head to committee hearing.
When & Where:
Thursday, June 21, 2018:
8:30am: briefing on the legislation by Councilmember Mosqueda, City Hall. Contact Councilmember Mosqueda's office for more information on the 8:30 briefing.
9:00am: domestic workers, employers of domestic workers, and community supporters will rally on the 4th Avenue side of Seattle City Hall, immediately following Councilmember Mosqueda’s briefing.
9:30am: Committee hearing begins in council chambers at 9:30 am.
Currently, thousands of domestic workers in Seattle don’t get the full protections of our workers’ rights laws. Some types of domestic workers are specifically excluded from federal labor protections, and for many others the rights spelled out in the law simply aren’t realities on the job. Few have access to basic benefits like healthcare and retirement, and there’s no good way for workers to set industry-wide standards and improve conditions.
For months, Seattle domestic workers have been working with elected officials to develop a Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights that will address the inequities faced by a workforce that’s mostly women and disproportionately people of color.
Key components of the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights being introduced Thursday:
Covers all part-time and full-time domestic workers in the city — regardless of whether they are technically employed by an agency or a family, and regardless of whether they are classified as employees or contractors.
Ensures all domestic workers are covered by the minimum wage and receive rest breaks.
Establishes a Domestic Workers Standards Board which includes workers, employers, and community representatives and has the power to establish industry-wide standards on wages, benefits, training, and other issues.
The Domestic Workers Standards Board would be a breakthrough step for workers rights in Seattle and across the country — a new model of collective bargaining being led by women and people of color who have been too long excluded from other basic legal protections.
More information
- The Domestic Workers Bill of Rights ordinance is available at the city's website.
Our report “Home Equity: Inequality and Exclusions Facing Domestic Workers in Seattle”, analyzes community-based survey data and found half of surveyed domestic workers do not receive overtime pay, four in ten do not receive paid sick days, and 85% do not receive workers’ compensation benefits if they are injured at work.
The Seattle Domestic Workers Alliance (SDWA) unites nannies, house cleaners, and other domestic workers across Seattle. Workers have established SDWA a project of Working Washington, with support from Casa Latina, SEIU 775, and the National Domestic Workers Alliance.
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Contact: Sage Wilson, Working Washington: sage@workingwa.org
Working Washington is the voice for workers in our state. Working Washington fast food strikers sparked the fight that won Seattle’s first-in-the-nation $15 minimum wage. Working Washington baristas and fast food workers led the successful campaign for secure scheduling in Seattle, and our members across the state helped drive forward Initiative 1433 to raise the minimum wage and provide paid sick days. We successfully drove Amazon to sever ties with the right-wing lobby group ALEC and improve conditions in their sweatshop warehouses, and got Starbucks to address inequities in their corporate parental leave policy. And we made history once again with the landmark statewide paid family leave law passed last year. For more information, including our press kit, visit workingWA.org.