Kamala Harris proposing "bill of rights" to protect workforce of almost all women and woc

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Last edited Mon Jul 15, 2019, 02:55 PM - Edit history (1)

VICE Impact @viceimpact 3h3 hours ago
Kamala Harris is proposing a "bill of rights" to protect a workforce made up almost entirely of women and women of color.

The vast majority of the roughly 2 million domestic workers employed in the United States don’t benefit from many of the protections afforded to workers in nearly every other industry. Aside from the hard-fought gains of the 1950s and ‘60s, which won nannies and maids recognition under minimum wage and unemployment laws, domestic workers—over 90 percent of whom are women—have won little else by way of workers’ rights, and advocates argue they remain almost entirely ignored by the country’s labor laws, even as they’ve evolved over decades.

California Senator Kamala Harris and Washington Representative Pramila Jayapal want to change that. On Monday, the two congresswomen will introduce a national “domestic workers’ bill of rights,” sweeping federal legislation that would ensure paid overtime, safe working conditions, and legal recourse for harassment and discrimination on the job for domestic workers. The bill also proposes additional rights and protections that are more specific to the domestic labor industry, advocating for healthcare and retirement benefits, written contracts, and fair hours.

“Domestic workers have been excluded from basic protections since the New Deal—and domestic workers are the future of work,” Jayapal said in a press statement. “The courageous working-class women, women of color and immigrant women who are demanding their rights today are unwilling to be excluded any longer. ...This bill will protect, stabilize and expand this important workforce in one of the fastest growing industries in the country.”

These states have served as testing grounds for the effectiveness of the bill of rights, and being able to observe how legislation has functioned on the state level encouraged the National Domestic Workers Alliance to beef up its federal legislative proposal. Harris and Jayapal’s legislation will include, for example, added measures to ensure there are consequences for employers who violate the rights outlined in the bill, which include a confidential hotline and a worker and employer-led federal task force.

read more: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/bj9ebm/domestic-workers-bill-of-rights-kamala-harris?utm_source=broadlytwitterus

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[DesertRat]

1. I love this "Domestic Workers Bill of Rights"

Domestic workers — nannies, house cleaners, and home-care workers — have long been excluded from federal protections, for which advocates and scholars credit domestic work’s origins in slavery and its associations with women’s unpaid household labor.

Thank you Sen. Harris and Rep. Jayapal for introducting this important legislation.

[highplainsdem]

2. They've been talking about this since last year. I'm glad they're finally doing it.

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/29/opinions/domestic-workers-bill-of-rights-harris-poo-jayapal/index.html

It is a good idea.

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3. yep, me too, and yes it is.

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[Politicub]

4. I love Harris' strategic approach. It has become clear that she's reconstituting the Obama

coalition and working to grow it.

She began with an intense focus on African Americans' unique concerns. And now she's widening the circle so it captures working class latinos and the other women who fill most of the domestic jobs in the U.S. The circle will continue to expand.

I have no doubt that she will diligently continue to build the coalition she needs in order to win the primary and the presidency.