The following is a press release from the California Domestic Workers Coalition (CDWC). The CDWC is a statewide coalition led by domestic workers and employers across the state. The organizations that are a part of our steering committee include: Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, Filipino Advocates for Justice, Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network, Instituto de Educación Popular del Sur California (IDEPSCA), Mujeres Unidas y Activas, Pilipino Workers Center, and The Women’s Collective of Dolores Street Community Services – now known as Mission Action.
SB 1350 Places Responsibility On Agencies To Ensure The Well-Being Of The Domestic Workers They Employ
SACRAMENTO – A bill signed by Gov. Newsom will bring California into compliance with Federal law and give the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) a clear mandate to protect the more than 175,000 domestic workers who work for homecare, cleaning, or nanny agencies.
SB 1350, sponsored by the California Domestic Workers Coalition and authored by Senator Maria Elena Durazo (D-Senate District 24), received overwhelming support by the legislature.
“Since the governor’s veto last year of my prior legislation, we have been in conversation with his office regarding the health and safety of domestic workers. This legislation is a product of those discussions.”
She continued, “I want to thank Governor Newsom for signing my SB 1350 to ensure that California is in compliance with federal law by extending California Occupational Safety and Health Act coverage to the more than 175,000 domestic workers who work for homecare, cleaning, or nanny agencies. The workers we entrust to care for our loved ones and our homes deserve the dignity of workplace protections.
Federal law requires that state-run safety plans be at least as effective as Federal OSHA; however, since its enactment, the California Occupational Safety and Health Act has held a broader exclusion for household domestic work than the one contained in Federal law. As a result, California domestic workers who work for agencies or other third party employers outside of the household have not been protected by DOSH.
“SB 1350 will make a tangible difference in the lives of agency-based domestic workers in California. This bill takes us one big step forward towards winning what we ultimately want – to protect all domestic workers in California,” said Kimberly Alvarenga, Director of CA Domestic Workers Coalition.
After twice vetoing bills that would have offered health and safety protections to ALL domestic workers, citing concerns about private households, the governor has signed a bill that will grant protections to a portion of those workers – those hired by agencies and other third parties.
For the past five years, the California Domestic Workers Coalition (CDWC), a statewide coalition composed of domestic workers, employers, and their supporters, have been organizing an ongoing advocacy campaign to extend basic safety and health rights to domestic workers, the only category of workers left unprotected by the state’s occupational safety and health laws.
Domestic workers and employers have tirelessly headed to the capitol year after year, and despite the vetoes and deep disappointments, have continued to rally in strength and numbers, vowing not to give up.
“I’ve been fighting for 10 years for worker protections. I’m a luchadora. I don’t like injustice and I am not timid. I can’t just think of myself. We are many and we will keep fighting for worker rights. No matter what happens,” said Norma Miranda, domestic worker and member leader at Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA).
Of the 325,000 domestic workers in California, more than half are hired by agencies, according to “Profile of Domestic Workers in California,” a report by the UCLA Labor Center.
“This bill offers protections I didn’t have,” said Mirna Arana, a member of the community based organization Mujeres Unidas y Activas, and a housecleaner in the Bay Area.“ Had it been in place when I was working for a cleaning company, I don’t think I would have lost my baby. I worked 16-hour days with no breaks and had to lift heavy items even though I told them I was pregnant. There are many workers who are experiencing the same conditions.”
Added Fabiola Angeles, a member of La Colectiva de Mujeres at Mission Action in San Francisco, “I had no protections when I was working with a route owner (an individual who hires and coordinates jobs for other housecleaners)). Had this law been in place, there would have been protections. They made me fill up cleaning bottles from large gallons of toxic cleaners. I breathed this in every day with no mask, no gloves. They told me putting on the gloves would take too much time and take away from the 5 houses I had to clean every day. By the time I left, my hands were raw and peeling.”
While SB 1350 will bring much needed health and safety protections to many workers, those directly hired by the household would remain excluded.
Said Alvarenga, “ “With this legislation, we are holding our government accountable to ensuring equal treatment and safety for a workforce that has long been underrepresented and underserved. We won’t stop. We will continue to work towards the day that all domestic workers have health & safety protections.”
“It is a win because from here, we can continue to fight for health and safety protections for all domestic workers. This is not the end.” added Arana.
Key provisions of SB 1350 include:
- Government Accountability: To ensure that California is complying with federal health and safety (OSHA), and providing protections for domestic workers who work for agencies or third parties.
- Worker Rights: It strengthens the rights of some 175,000 domestic workers, giving them a clearer path to report unsafe working conditions and receive the support they need to address hazards on the job. .
