On August 29th, the Center for Workers’ Rights demonstrated our support for SB 686 by rallying Domestic Workers from the Greater Sacramento region to attend a day of action at the state capitol to stand in solidarity with Domestic Workers across the State. Several California State representatives and senators were in attendance, including Senators Maria Elena Durazo, and Nancy Skinner. State Representative Cecilia Aguiar Curry gave an impassioned speech in support of Domestic Workers calling attention to the many ways in which, historically, these vital workers have been left unprotected by our current system. Over ⅓ of Domestic Workers have reported wage theft, health and safety violations, and harassment in the workplace. These system issues require a robust solution. With the help of State legislators, community based organizations, and of course, workers, we will continue to participate with the CDWC to secure a future of dignity for Domestic Workers!
In order to create lasting impact, a significant objective of our work is advocating for the advancement of rights in the workplace. Through our Workers’ Rights Clinic we are able to learn about common barriers and issues workers face. We use our observations to inform our advocacy efforts. Once we’ve identified an issue, we confirm our observations with other advocates and research to understand if we’re looking at system issues or centralized issues. Then we strategize on what an appropriate resolution would look like and how to push forward the changes that would improve conditions for workers.
Not only do we move forward on issues we’ve identified, we support other organizations with advocacy on issues they’ve identified, which could be differ in scope than ours but impacts workers nonetheless. This year, the Center for Workers’ Rights joined the California Domestic Workers’ Coalition (CDWC), and signed on to support their legislative bill, SB 686, that aims to improve workplace rights for domestic workers by extending health and safety requirements to domestic work. We stand in solidarity with CDWC’s message that Every worker deserves a safe workplace