If you walk the streets of New York City, you can see the army of people who power the economy–if you decide to look or pay attention. Not the investment bankers and the masters of the universe. Nope, it’s the 200,000 domestic workers: nannies, housekeepers, companions for the elderly, babysitters, baby nurses and cooks. And they are among the most abused workers in the economy.

This isn’t unique to New York City. Across the nation, there are millions of domestic workers who work in private homes. The economy simply could not function without domestic workers. Sure, rich people certainly hire a lot of domestic workers. But, it’s a broad range of middle-class people who employ domestic workers.

Think about it? Don’t you hire a babysitter? A house cleaner? When you and your significant other, trying to piece together a middle-class living by holding down two jobs, go off to work, who watches your kids? The fact is the economy could not function if one day all domestic workers decided to take the day off–or, strike…

In New York, there is now a movement to try to get them a better economic deal. I’ll come to that in a second. But, first. some facts from Domestic Workers United, the leading advocate for domestic workers in New York.

DWU did a survey and found:

Forty-one percent (41%) of the workers earn low wages. An additional 26% make wages below the poverty line or below minimum wage. Half of workers work overtime—often more than 50-60 hours a week.

Sixty-seven percent (67%) of workers don’t receive overtime pay for

overtime hours worked. Domestic workers are primary providers of

their families in the U.S. and in their home countries, but face severe

financial hardships.

Thirty-three percent (33%) of workers experience verbal or physical

abuse or have been made to feel uncomfortable by their employers.

One-third of workers who face abuse identify race and immigration

status as factors for their employers’ actions.

Nine out of ten domestic workers do not receive health insurance from

their employers. One-third of workers could not afford medical care

needed for themselves or their families. Less than half of workers

receive basic workplace benefits such as regular raises and paid sick

days.

Forty-six percent (46%) of domestic workers experience stress at work.

Employers cause stress by requiring domestic workers to perform multiple

jobs, to do work not in their job descriptions, and to work for

someone other than their employer.

Now, you would be right to wonder: isn’t there a law against this? The problem is that domestic workers are not considered “employees” so they do not get the kinds of protections other workers get (albeit, even for those workers the law can be pretty unhelpful–but that’s another story). The National Labor Relations Act explicitly excludes domestic workers–so they don’t have the traditional right to form a union and collectively bargain (and, yes, once must acknowledge how bad the NLRA is when it comes to the real right to have a union…but that’s another story…and something the Employee Free Choice Act will hopefully remedy). The Fair Labor Standards Act which sets minimum wages rates, maximum hours and overtime excludes coverage for “casual” employees. Amazingly, Occupation Safety and Health Act standards explicitly exclude domestic workers–despite the hazards in these jobs (a side note: OSHA is generally toothless because it’s impossible, even when we have an agency that is interested in worker safety, to effectively monitor the multitude of workplaces in the country). Finally, Civil rights laws do not apply to employers with fewer than 15 workers–effectively denying domestic workers basic protections.

Forget the stats for a minute. check out one day in the life of “Carla,” a live-in nanny:

5:00AM Wake up, take a bath and get

dressed

6:00AM Make breakfast for my three

children, ages 5, 7, and 11

6:25 AM Leave the house to catch the

bus to the train

6:30 AM Catch the bus

—ride for 10 minutes

6:40 AM Arrive at the Marble Hill

Metro North station in the Bronx

7:08 AM Board the Train to Westchester

7:25 AM Arrive in Hasting-on-Hudson and

catch a cab to the house

7:30 AM Arrive at the house, prepare

breakfast for the kids: a six yearold

boy and three year-old girl

7:45 AM The parents, my employers,

leave

7:46 AM Get the boy ready for school:

comb his hair, make sure he

washes, pack his lunch

8:08 AM Get the girl dressed and walk

the boy to the bus stop together

8:13 AM Bus arrives, put the boy on the

bus, walk home with the girl

8:20 AM Prepare the girl for nursery

school: comb her hair, get her

dressed, pack a snack

9:05 AM Walk to the nursery school and

drop her off

9:25 AM Return home and clean the

kitchen, load the dishwasher

10:45AM Clean the children’s rooms, load

the washing machine, begin

preparing dinner

11:45AM Return to the nursery to pick up

the little girl

12:05 PM Return home to make lunch

for the little girl

1 :00 PM Put the little girl down for a nap

2:00 PM Wake the little girl and get her

ready for tap dance class

2:30 PM Take her to tap dance class

3:40 PM Pick up the boy from the bus

stop, return home and prepare

a snack

4:15 PM Get the boy ready for karate

class, pack his gym bag, take

him to class

4:45 PM Pick up the little girl from tap

dance class

5:00 PM Finish preparing dinner

6:00 PM Friend drops the boy off at

home, we start his homework

6:30 PM Feed the kids dinner

7:00 PM Prepare baths for the kids,

parents arrive at home

7:10 PM Parents drive me to train station

7:23 PM Board the train at

Hasting-on-Hudson

7:44 PM Reach the Marble Hill train

station and wait for the bus

8:15 PM Enter my door at home, drop

my bags & take a bath

8:45 PM Have tea and dinner

9:15 PM Lay down in bed with my kids,

listen to them until they go

to sleep

10:00 PM Clean the house

1 1:00 PM Go to sleep

In New York, DWU is leading the effort to get a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights passed. It’s been introduced in the state Assembly but the bill’s supporters are looking for a sponsor in the Republican-controlled (at least until 2008) state Senate. Here are the main components of the bill:

*Set a minumum wage, phased in from $12 per hour to $14 per hour by 2010.

*Employers would provide health care coverage or a wage supplement (yes, single-payer health care would solve this need).

*One day off per 7-day calendar week. That may sound basic but a lot of domestic workers labor for days on end with no days off.

*Paid sick days, vacations and holidays.

*Advance notice of termination. Again, a basic right.

*Severance pay in accordance with numbers of years worked

By the way, DWU’s founder Ai-jen Poo, who was one of the honorees at the annual dinner for the organization I run, Labor Research Association. I wanted to honor Ai-jen not just for the work of DWU but because I think it’s important for the labor movement to support the efforts by this huge group of workers–even though they aren’t going to become labor union members.

What can you do?

1. DWU’s website is under construction but you can see the entire report there now. In the meantime, you can send a note of support and offer a donation to DWU organization: domesticworkersunited [at sign] gmail.org

2. If you are in New York, invite DWU to come to your organization to talk about its campaign.

3. Adopt the standards set forth in the bill. The best way to begin moving living conditions upward is to start setting those standards in your own life. I’m sure most people reading this believe that part of saving the environment means that each person has to change their own behavior. Why shouldn’t the same be true when it comes to treating people who work for you?