The Real Value of Domestic Labor

[Anonymous]

Excerpt:

The unrecognized and undervalued character of household labor is built into our legal system. In the 1930s, many workers gained the right to a minimum wage, Social Security, unemployment compensation and the right to organize and bargain collectively — but not household workers, who were overwhelmingly African-American women. In the 1960s and 1970s African-American household workers organized a nationwide movement to eliminate the vestiges of slavery associated with the occupation and push for federal minimum wage guarantees, which they won in 1974. Despite these victories, even today, household workers, who are largely immigrant workers, are not covered by civil rights laws and do not have federal protection to form a union. Moreover, even when they have rights, those rights are usually not enforced.

Household workers are often expected to work overtime without pay, come in on holidays and weekends and run the risk of being treated more like indentured servants than paid employees. Most live on the margins of poverty, struggling to support their own families even as they spend their days caring for someone else’s. English may not be their first language; they might not know their rights. Their outsider status renders them and their work devalued and even less visible.

Many employers believe they are doing these workers a favor simply by hiring them and that without these jobs, many working women would have no alternatives. They forget that it goes both ways: Without the labor of domestic workers, many of those employers would not be able to go to work, juggle multiple responsibilities or have some time to themselves. As one domestic workers’ rights organization put it, theirs is “the work that makes all other work possible.”


http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2015/9/the-real-value-of-domestic-labor.html

[Anonymous]

Thank you, OP. Excellent, excellent piece.

Here's what jumped out at me:

"Employers shouldn't deny their employees the right to parent their own children or create a system of modern-day slavery either."

"Employers should treat their employees the way they expect to be treated: with dignity, respect and fairness."

This Labor Day, as you enjoyed that final beach trip or family barbecue, did you "pause and consider the invisible labor that takes place..." in a great many homes across this country?"

"And ask yourself, How much is it worth to me?"

[Anonymous]

Why aren't you both enjoying your day off?

Go have a party, read a book, sleep late, hit the outlets, see a matinee, call a friend, etc...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why aren't you both enjoying your day off?

Go have a party, read a book, sleep late, hit the outlets, see a matinee, call a friend, etc...

I am and I did. Now you should be a better employer.
Happy Labor Day!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why aren't you both enjoying your day off?

Go have a party, read a book, sleep late, hit the outlets, see a matinee, call a friend, etc...

You mean the three seconds it took me to cut and paste that means I couldn't enjoy my day?

Well, I couldn't, but that's not from posting a single link, it's because I have bronchitis.

[Anonymous]

P.S. Did you share that comment with everyone who posted on DCUM today, or just the posts you didn't like?