"You can see me, right?" New York nanny Christine Lewis asked Stephen Colbert on "The Colbert Report." Wearing a colorful hat that could not be missed, Lewis argued that domestic workers are hardly invisible, but that law and custom conspire to keep them in the shadows and extremely vulnerable at work.  Recent studies of California domestic workers reveal persistent problems with insufficient or withheld wages, termination without notice, health and safety hazards, and also verbal, sexual and physical abuse. By organizing to claim fair working conditions and equal labor rights, domestic workers fight the legal loopholes, social isolation and fear that enable such violations.

As María Elena, a San Francisco housekeeper, said, "We deserve respect just like all the other workers."  The California Domestic Workers Bill of Rights (AB889, written by Assemblymen Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, and V. Manuel Pérez, D-Coachella, addresses these issues by guaranteeing labor rights such as overtime pay, minimum rest times for live-in workers and paid sick days to those who care for children, elders, the disabled and homes. It fosters greater stability in this vital industry that could benefit everyone.  Acknowledging the need for this legislation requires that we face the mistreatment so many domestic workers experience today. It also demands recognition of the roots of their low status as workers in the legacy of slavery and racial and gender segregation in our economy. In 1935, the National Labor Relations Act established the basic labor rights U.S. workers now expect. But to gain the support of Southern legislators, sponsors dropped domestic and agricultural laborers from the categories of protected workers. Household workers were then excluded from subsequent federal minimum-wage, anti-discrimination and health and safety laws. (click on link to read full story)