Organizing Domestic Workers

Labor Day will dawn Monday on a U.S. work force that is less than 15% unionized, a fraction of the total represented by organized labor 20 years ago. But the spirit of collective bargaining is beginning to take root at the bottom rungs of the employment ladder.

In the last two years, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles has begun to organize domestic workers and day laborers, educating them about their legal rights and helping them file grievances when those rights are violated.

“We try to organize the workers who tend to be the most exploited,” says CHIRLA’s Victor Narro. “Domestic workers are very hard to organize because they are so isolated. But by organizing, they develop support and they begin a process of self-development.”

The Domestic Workers Assn., which meets once a month, has a membership of about 50. In addition to addressing common employee abuses, such as negligence in paying Social Security taxes as required by law, the association is also pushing for an industrywide pay standard.

“Often these meetings are the only way for domestics to get together with other domestics,” Narro says. “We’re creating leadership from within the membership.’