"To all of our people in the struggle: let's unite!" - Bill of Rights Calypso
Tomorrow, Domestic Workers United will be bringing 100 domestic workers and allies back to Albany to spend the WHOLE DAY letting the legislators know just how important this Bill of Rights really is for the 200,000 domestic workers working in the greater New York metropolitan area. And we HOPE that you and your friends and family will be there with us!
From 9am to 4pm, on this last day in Albany fighting for the Bill of Rights, DWU and its supporters will chant, perform, meet with legislators, march and rally to pass the Domestic Worker Bill of Rights!!
As we prepare for our trip tomorrow, we take with us the voices of thousands of domestic workers who have suffered at the hands of abusive employers, each of whom is another reason why we need this Bill of Rights. Take Marina for example. For two and a half years, Marina "slept in the basement, where the sewage often overflowed" and "had to pick up wood in addition to cardboard in order to pass through and also to open the backdoor so [she] could
step outside to the sun and for the stench to leave." After more than two years, Marina's employer fired her with no notice and no severance pay. Marina was not only unemployed now, she was also homeless.
This is just one example of the abuse seen in the industry on a daily basis. Under current law, domestic workers can be fired without notice, which can leave them with no place to go and no safety net. The DOMESTIC WORKER BILL OF RIGHTS will provide a RIGHT TO NOTICE AND SEVERANCE PAY, so that women like Marina are not left with nothing from one day to the next.
So tomorrow, for Marina, and for the hundreds of thousands of domestic workers, we will strain our voices, stretch out our arms, and demand that this Bill of Rights be passed by the end of this legislative session. And we are so thankful that you will be with us at this critical moment in history.
SEE YOU in front of the Barnes and Noble on the North side of Union Square! 6:30am buses leave, 7pm buses return! See events, right, for details!
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