March 8, Briefing on Conditions of CA Household Workers

Dear DLP Allies,

Please join us on International Women's Day for the release of our
participatory study on the domestic work industry, "Behind Closed Doors:
Working Conditions of California Household Workers."

This briefing is a unique opportunity to hear from workers, domestic worker
base-building organizations, and academics about the role of household work
in the global and local economy, conditions in the industry, and what's
needed for change.

We hope you will join us. If possible, RSVP to jill [at] lrcl.org.

Thanks,


Jill Shenker


Women's Collective Coordinator


Day Labor Program


La Raza Centro Legal


(415) 553-3406


Contact : Jill Shenker, Women's Collective (415) 225-5685 (cel),
English/Spanish

Andrea Mercado, MUA (510) 205 3684 (cel), English/ Spanish



Thursday, March 8, 2007, International Women's Day

Research Finds Household Workers Earning Poverty Wages, Lacking Access to
Basic Health Care


Release of New Report "Behind Closed Doors: Working Conditions of California
Household Workers"

What: Report Release and Media Briefing on Household Work
Industry



When: Thursday, March 8, 2007, 11am-12:30pm


Where: The Women's Building, 3543 18th St, San Francisco
(between Valencia and Guerrero)


Who: Speakers will include:

Grace Chang, Professor, UC Santa Barbara, Author of Disposable Domestics:
Immigrant Women Workers in the Global Economy

Maria Luna, Elder Care Provider, Mujeres Unidas y Activas

Household worker testimony, Women's Collective

Anna Couey, DataCenter

Sarah Church, Progressive
Jewish Alliance

Why: Household workers work in the private homes of their
employers, performing tasks such as in-home child, patient, and elder care,
housework, and cooking. In 2002, Mujeres Unidas y Activas and the Day
Labor Program Women's Collective of La Raza Centro Legal came together to
analyze and to strategize to improve the household work industry. Because
there is no accurate data available about the number of household workers or
information about their work conditions in California, these Bay Area
organizations of low-income immigrant Latina women, many of whom are
household workers, joined with the DataCenter to create a participatory
research project to assess the industry.



The research shows that household workers are primarily female immigrants.
While supporting their employers' homes and families, findings show
household workers are working in substandard and often exploitative
conditions, earning poverty wages too low to support their own families, and
lacking access to basic health care.