Bay Area Childcare Collective Officially Endorses CA Domestic Workers Bill of Rights

The CA Domestic Workers Bill of Rights is going before the state legislature again in 2013. The BACC sent the following endorsement letter to our Assemblymember. Your organization can do the same. To find out more about the Bill of Rights and how to support, check out this link: http://www.domesticworkers.org/ca-bill-of-rights

March 31, 2013

Assemblymember Roger Hernandez

P.O. Box 942849 Sacramento, CA 94249-0048

RE: SUPPORT for AB 241 (Ammiano) Domestic Worker’s Bill of Rights

Dear Assemblymember Hernandez:

The Bay Area Childcare Collective is pleased to support AB 241 (Ammiano), which would extend equal rights to domestic workers and standardize an industry made largely invisible.

At least 200,000 of California’s domestic workers, comprised of housekeepers, nannies, and caregivers for children, the elderly, and the disabled, work in private households to care for the health, safety and well-being of many Californians’ families and homes. Domestic workers are the backbone of the economy yet they have been excluded from basic labor laws. This bill seeks to provide domestic workers with equal labor rights and industry-wide standards so that they can provide quality care to the individuals and homes with which they are entrusted.

The Bay Area Childcare Collective was formed in 2002 in response to the very real need for childcare among social justice organizations. We are an all-volunteer organization providing free childcare for grassroots groups of women of color, so that poor and working-class mothers can be active in struggles for social and economic justice. We work closely with two San Francisco organizations representing domestic workers: The Women’s Collective and POWER (People Organized to Win Employment Rights).

We understand our work as part of a long-term effort to build multi-generational movements with parents, women and children at the center, and for this reason we fully support AB 241. This bill simplifies the law and provides uniform protection to all domestic workers. We believe this uniformity will increase the quality of care and standardize the industry, benefitting domestic employers and workers alike—and benefitting the children of both employers and workers.

Domestic workers are the bedrock of our society – they do the work that makes all other work possible. We strongly support AB 241 to not only protect this significant and valuable workforce but also invest in the well-being of California’s families and homes. Thank you for your time and consideration of our position.

Sincerely,

The Bay Area Childcare Collective

CC: Assemblymember Tom Ammiano