Will Domestic Workers Rights Bill bring change?

June 18, 2014 By 2 Comments


Rocio washes dishes as part of her job. | Andrea Martinez

Rocio washes dishes as part of her job. | Andrea Martinez

California passed a Domestic Workers Rights Bill back in January that extends overtime hours for domestic workers and assures minimum wage protections. However, some workers still experience injustice such as wage theft in such an unregulated industry. We spent a day with Rocio, who cares for kids at a house in Santa Monica, to learn about the daily life of a domestic worker.

Click play to hear from Rocio in a story for Annenberg Radio News: [Read more…]

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Former domestic worker fights for labor rights

December 9, 2013 By Leave a Comment


Angela Alvarez - a former domestic worker who now a lead organizer for the domestic workers movement at IDEPSCA

Angela Alvarez  is a former domestic worker who is now a lead organizer for the domestic workers movement at IDEPSCA | Sinduja Rangarajan

As a former live-in housekeeper, Angela Alvarez quietly worked 15- to 18-hour days. She ate her employer’s throwaway food. She stayed up late after parties to clean up the mess.

It was Alvarez’s first job in the United States and she thought the long hours were normal.

Once, Alvarez took a day off for being sick and her employer penalized her by paying 25 percent less for the entire week. Alvarez quit her job.

That was injustice, Alvarez said. “They never gave me money for taking care of their grandson; they never gave me money for cleaning their daughter’s house.” [Read more…]

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