In response to the abuses in the home and workplace that most domestic workers experience fairly regularly, and in an effort to flip the script and put working class immigrant women in the driver’s seat of their relationships at work, at home, and in the community, a new collaborative has been formed. A coalition including the Day Labor Program’s Womens Collective, Mujeres Unidas y Activas, and POWER in San Francisco are launching a City wide campaign for domestic workers rights, benefits, and better work conditions.

Beyond the current conditions within the industry, we also recognize that domestic work has generally been undervalued and invisibilized in the economy. Historically this work has been performed by women of color, from African American women to Chicanas to immigrant women from Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Caribbean – the role that racism has played in the exploitation and oppression of domestic workers is undeniable. Its no accident that the deep connection between racism and sexism plays a critical role in maintaining domestic work undervalued and underpaid.

Since the coalition’s inception, member-leaders have taken a lead in initiating an moving the campaign forward. Beginning with an investigation of conditions of domestic workers in San Francisco and Oakland through surveys, the women, along with the technical expertise of ‘information activists’ at the Data Center laid the groundwork for an assessment of problems facing domestic workers. The coalition is now set to begin generating a set of demands in order to launch a campaign to address the inequities and injustices faced by women doing this work.

Domestic workers are on the move in San Francisco reclaiming the respect for the work that they do -- some of the most important work of all, keeping the city going and raising the next generation. We refuse to have our work go unrecognized and uncompensated. We are on the move and looking to chart a new path to win what we deserve.