1 00:00:03,080 --> 00:00:05,920 Speaker 1: Hey, I'm barratone day Thurston and this is how to 2 00:00:06,080 --> 00:00:15,800 Speaker 1: citizen with Barratton. When I was about seven years old, 3 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:18,320 Speaker 1: I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. 4 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:24,320 Speaker 1: My classmates were like astronaut, doctor, Not this guy. This 5 00:00:24,360 --> 00:00:30,760 Speaker 1: guy was like garbage man. Yes, because, oh my goodness, 6 00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:34,720 Speaker 1: all the reasons that truck. I would hear the truck 7 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:37,600 Speaker 1: coming up the block and race to the front porch 8 00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:40,960 Speaker 1: to see the coolest dudes that ever lived hanging off 9 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:43,560 Speaker 1: the back of the truck as it rolled up the street. 10 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:45,519 Speaker 1: A street it shouldn't have been able to fit up, 11 00:00:45,640 --> 00:00:49,839 Speaker 1: but because the driver was so good skills, I'm talking skills, 12 00:00:50,479 --> 00:00:54,200 Speaker 1: they could navigate any urban environment. And you're looking so 13 00:00:54,280 --> 00:00:56,200 Speaker 1: cool hanging off the back of that truck. And they 14 00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:58,160 Speaker 1: leap off the truck and they pick up the trash, 15 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:00,800 Speaker 1: and I'm like, this is a when when I don't 16 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:03,000 Speaker 1: even I can't even count the amount of winds there 17 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:06,160 Speaker 1: are in that job. You're gonna pay me money to 18 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:10,839 Speaker 1: let me look cool, pick up trash and get free stuff. Yes. 19 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:16,720 Speaker 1: And if the garbage man life wasn't for me, my 20 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:22,319 Speaker 1: fall back dream job was gardener. Yeah, little garden Bartun Day. 21 00:01:22,319 --> 00:01:25,120 Speaker 1: I was a member of a community garden. I grew 22 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:28,880 Speaker 1: food for my family. I'm trying to provide for my family. 23 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:32,280 Speaker 1: It was so much fun. And I guess the threat 24 00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:34,520 Speaker 1: is I like getting my hands dirty. I just I 25 00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:38,720 Speaker 1: wanted money for dirty. That was the calculus of young 26 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:43,240 Speaker 1: Baritone Day. And there are millions of Americans who have 27 00:01:43,319 --> 00:01:47,040 Speaker 1: worked getting their hands dirty for all of us, in 28 00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:50,560 Speaker 1: jobs that many of us can't or don't want to do. 29 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:53,920 Speaker 1: But the difference between the early nineteen eighties when I 30 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:56,600 Speaker 1: had these dreams and now is that so many of 31 00:01:56,640 --> 00:02:00,560 Speaker 1: these people don't make nearly enough, don't have the protections 32 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:03,800 Speaker 1: they need to take care of themselves and their families. 33 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:07,320 Speaker 1: You've heard me say this before, but it's hard to 34 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:11,520 Speaker 1: citizen when you can't pay the bills and wealth inequality 35 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:14,760 Speaker 1: in this country is making it hard for increasing numbers 36 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:17,959 Speaker 1: of people to do just that. Now that inequality was 37 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:22,079 Speaker 1: baked in from the start through racism and exclusion. Then 38 00:02:22,120 --> 00:02:25,919 Speaker 1: you add unchecked corporate growth on top of that, concentrating 39 00:02:25,919 --> 00:02:28,000 Speaker 1: economic power in the hands of the few and not 40 00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:32,040 Speaker 1: the many. As a result, we've got a whole class 41 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:37,200 Speaker 1: of people who are trapped in poverty, perpetual insecurity, no 42 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:41,239 Speaker 1: matter how much or how hard they work. We call 43 00:02:41,320 --> 00:02:46,840 Speaker 1: them the working poor. The system is designed to keep 44 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:51,960 Speaker 1: them poor. And that same system encourages us to always 45 00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:55,720 Speaker 1: think of ourselves as individuals, which is convenient for the 46 00:02:55,800 --> 00:02:59,920 Speaker 1: status quo because it's overwhelming to think of yourself as 47 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:03,480 Speaker 1: a worker versus an entire corporation, or as a citizen 48 00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:07,760 Speaker 1: versus the whole system. But when we think together, when 49 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:13,320 Speaker 1: we come together, we can change these outcomes. There is 50 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:15,880 Speaker 1: a better way. This is how to citizen y'all. And 51 00:03:15,919 --> 00:03:17,960 Speaker 1: we're not gonna leave you hanging on the problem and 52 00:03:17,960 --> 00:03:22,359 Speaker 1: wallowing that note. We're gonna point toward those solutions. Now 53 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:25,920 Speaker 1: I knew who we had to talk to on this topic. 54 00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:29,200 Speaker 1: I sat down with someone who's organizing with one of 55 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:33,280 Speaker 1: the most historically discriminated groups of workers in our nation's history. 56 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:38,200 Speaker 1: Today's guest is I Gen Poop. She's been helping domestic 57 00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:41,840 Speaker 1: workers lead a charge for fairness, the fairness all workers needs, 58 00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:44,720 Speaker 1: so they can live with security, live with dignity, so 59 00:03:44,760 --> 00:03:47,880 Speaker 1: they can show up for themselves, for their families, their communities, 60 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:52,600 Speaker 1: and all of us. We have to take every bit 61 00:03:52,760 --> 00:03:59,320 Speaker 1: of power, every relationship, every ounce of hope and determination 62 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:03,680 Speaker 1: that we have of to win big for our communities 63 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:08,840 Speaker 1: right now, and I think domestic workers are ready. We 64 00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:29,440 Speaker 1: meet Eigen after the brain Let's start with you introducing yourself. 65 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:34,680 Speaker 1: Say your name and what you do. My name is 66 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:38,080 Speaker 1: I Gen Poo, and I work for the National Domestic 67 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:42,839 Speaker 1: Workers Alliance, which is an organization that works with nanny's 68 00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:48,120 Speaker 1: housekeepers and home care workers to build our power and 69 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:54,440 Speaker 1: to win dignity, respect, and fairness. Mm hmm, dignity, respect, 70 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:57,240 Speaker 1: those are all great things. I co signed. Where do 71 00:04:57,320 --> 00:05:00,960 Speaker 1: I sign up? When you were growing going up, what 72 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:04,520 Speaker 1: did you want to be? I actually wanted to be 73 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:08,880 Speaker 1: a writer, um, because I'm actually kind of an introvert. 74 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:12,800 Speaker 1: And then as I got older, I started working with Clay, 75 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:18,160 Speaker 1: and my pottery teacher became one of my best friends 76 00:05:18,200 --> 00:05:22,320 Speaker 1: and mentors, and the ceramics studio became kind of a 77 00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:25,159 Speaker 1: refuge for me. So then I thought maybe I should 78 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:29,560 Speaker 1: be a potter until I ended up in New York 79 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:34,000 Speaker 1: City and in the world of organizing and activism. So 80 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:38,960 Speaker 1: you're shaping Clay. Take the leap with me from shaping 81 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:42,720 Speaker 1: Clay to shaping the world. What's the jump into activism? 82 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:47,080 Speaker 1: Where did that first show up in your life? Well, 83 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:51,400 Speaker 1: I think it was because I was raised by my 84 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:56,400 Speaker 1: mom and my grandma and um, and they're just such strong, 85 00:05:56,520 --> 00:06:00,080 Speaker 1: powerful women who did so much, like really moved of 86 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:02,560 Speaker 1: mountains every day, and I just thought they walked on 87 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:05,760 Speaker 1: water and could do anything. And you know, I saw 88 00:06:05,839 --> 00:06:09,920 Speaker 1: women doing that in the community, and I think I 89 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:12,440 Speaker 1: just assumed that if they were powering everything, that they 90 00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:18,719 Speaker 1: would be in charge of everything, actually in power, and um, 91 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:21,320 Speaker 1: you know, very quickly you realize that that's not the case. 92 00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:24,599 Speaker 1: And in fact, so much of what women do to 93 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:29,480 Speaker 1: power our world is not visible or certainly not valued, 94 00:06:29,760 --> 00:06:33,160 Speaker 1: often not protected. And so I think I just was 95 00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:38,520 Speaker 1: always drawn towards women's issues, women's organizations. I became a 96 00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:43,160 Speaker 1: women's studies major in college and got involved in the 97 00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:46,000 Speaker 1: New York Asian Women's Center when I moved to New York, 98 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:50,599 Speaker 1: and I was kind of a journey from there. Do 99 00:06:50,640 --> 00:06:54,159 Speaker 1: you remember a formative experience that first got you interested 100 00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:59,640 Speaker 1: in workers rights? Yes, I think it happened in stages. Um. 101 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:02,880 Speaker 1: I would is volunteering for the hotline at the New 102 00:07:02,920 --> 00:07:06,640 Speaker 1: York Asian Women's Center, and it's a domestic violence shelter 103 00:07:06,839 --> 00:07:10,880 Speaker 1: for Asian immigrant women, and because my grandparents played such 104 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:15,480 Speaker 1: a role in raising me, I spoke Mandarin, albeit twelve 105 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:19,680 Speaker 1: year old Mandarin, but I did, and so I volunteered 106 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:24,600 Speaker 1: on the bilingual hotline and survivors UM would call and 107 00:07:25,400 --> 00:07:29,440 Speaker 1: they would talk about their experiences of violence and abuse, 108 00:07:29,600 --> 00:07:31,960 Speaker 1: but they would also talk about just how hard it 109 00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:35,800 Speaker 1: was to survive doing the work that they did, and 110 00:07:36,160 --> 00:07:39,240 Speaker 1: feeling like they just didn't have real choices to take 111 00:07:39,280 --> 00:07:42,360 Speaker 1: care of themselves and keep themselves and their families safe 112 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:47,120 Speaker 1: because they worked in jobs that didn't pay the bills, 113 00:07:47,640 --> 00:07:51,920 Speaker 1: where they couldn't put food on the table and keep 114 00:07:51,960 --> 00:07:54,240 Speaker 1: a roof over their heads and the lights on for 115 00:07:54,280 --> 00:07:58,200 Speaker 1: their families. And I also was volunteering at an organization 116 00:07:58,320 --> 00:08:02,320 Speaker 1: called the Committee Against Anti Asian Violence, which is also 117 00:08:02,600 --> 00:08:06,800 Speaker 1: now called CALV organizing Asian Communities. And at the time 118 00:08:06,840 --> 00:08:10,160 Speaker 1: there were a group of us who We're seeing the 119 00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:14,200 Speaker 1: women in the Asian immigrant community working in these low 120 00:08:14,320 --> 00:08:20,600 Speaker 1: wage jobs, restaurant work, um nail salon work, domestic work, 121 00:08:21,440 --> 00:08:26,360 Speaker 1: and seeing just how impossible it was to make a 122 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:32,000 Speaker 1: living doing these jobs. So we started organizing healthfares and 123 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:35,000 Speaker 1: know your rights events just to see if there was 124 00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:38,439 Speaker 1: interest on the part of women um in these jobs 125 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:42,080 Speaker 1: to organize to come together. And it was always the 126 00:08:42,160 --> 00:08:45,760 Speaker 1: domestic workers who would come to the meetings and really 127 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:51,560 Speaker 1: understood how valuable and powerful it is to break out 128 00:08:51,559 --> 00:08:54,440 Speaker 1: of the isolation of your day to day life and 129 00:08:54,559 --> 00:08:57,920 Speaker 1: joined together with others. And they really seem like they 130 00:08:58,120 --> 00:09:02,800 Speaker 1: understood the potential of organizing, and so we just really 131 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:06,800 Speaker 1: continued to work with At the time, it was Filipina 132 00:09:06,880 --> 00:09:12,080 Speaker 1: domestic workers organizing bringing people together, and a number of them, 133 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:14,200 Speaker 1: before they had come to New York, had worked in 134 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:19,280 Speaker 1: Hong Kong, where there's really like a powerful domestic workers 135 00:09:19,320 --> 00:09:22,520 Speaker 1: movement that has been built there over many many years, 136 00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:27,800 Speaker 1: and they had a standard contract and clear rights and protections. 137 00:09:27,880 --> 00:09:32,240 Speaker 1: And so the Filipinas who worked in Hong Kong before 138 00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:35,480 Speaker 1: coming to New York were shocked when they came to 139 00:09:35,559 --> 00:09:38,480 Speaker 1: New York to find that in the United States, which 140 00:09:38,520 --> 00:09:41,400 Speaker 1: is supposed to be kind of a bastion of freedom globally, 141 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:46,320 Speaker 1: that they had less rights and less protections and less standards. 142 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:49,079 Speaker 1: And they immediately said, you know, we need to organize 143 00:09:49,080 --> 00:09:53,880 Speaker 1: with our sisters from all different communities, especially Caribbean women 144 00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:56,680 Speaker 1: who were the majority of domestic workers in New York 145 00:09:57,320 --> 00:10:00,440 Speaker 1: UM at the time, and and every an he needs 146 00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:03,080 Speaker 1: to come together so that we can have standards and 147 00:10:03,160 --> 00:10:07,640 Speaker 1: protections and rights. And that in many ways was the 148 00:10:07,679 --> 00:10:12,400 Speaker 1: beginnings of the domestic workers movement generation that I was 149 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:15,680 Speaker 1: a part of a New York city and our national 150 00:10:15,720 --> 00:10:20,080 Speaker 1: movement which has now grown. We're in all fifty states now. 151 00:10:20,240 --> 00:10:25,600 Speaker 1: We have seventy five local affiliates and chapters all over 152 00:10:25,640 --> 00:10:28,640 Speaker 1: the country and a community of about two hundred and 153 00:10:28,679 --> 00:10:33,880 Speaker 1: eighty thousand domestic workers and UM and we're building every day. 154 00:10:36,200 --> 00:10:40,719 Speaker 1: Two hundred eighty thousand. That's an army right there. So 155 00:10:41,040 --> 00:10:47,720 Speaker 1: you speak of standards, rights privileges for domestic workers, what 156 00:10:48,320 --> 00:10:52,040 Speaker 1: are those like? What does the domestic worker need or 157 00:10:52,080 --> 00:10:54,760 Speaker 1: what was missing that other workers have that you noticed 158 00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:59,640 Speaker 1: domestic workers didn't have. There's a really deep history here 159 00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:04,040 Speaker 1: the not a lot of people know, which is that. Well, 160 00:11:04,160 --> 00:11:05,920 Speaker 1: if we think about it, it kind of makes sense 161 00:11:05,960 --> 00:11:08,679 Speaker 1: because the work that domestic workers do has always been 162 00:11:08,679 --> 00:11:13,680 Speaker 1: associated with work that women do, write, caregiving, cleaning, and 163 00:11:13,760 --> 00:11:16,440 Speaker 1: it's been really kind of taken for granted in our 164 00:11:16,480 --> 00:11:19,560 Speaker 1: culture that women will just do that work on top 165 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:24,040 Speaker 1: of everything else. As a profession, it's always been associated 166 00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:27,560 Speaker 1: with women of color. Many of our first domestic workers 167 00:11:27,600 --> 00:11:31,480 Speaker 1: were enslaved African women, and then ever since then, it's 168 00:11:31,559 --> 00:11:36,520 Speaker 1: always been black, brown Asian Native women doing this work. 169 00:11:36,720 --> 00:11:39,640 Speaker 1: Immigrant women. It's the part of our workforce with the 170 00:11:39,760 --> 00:11:45,760 Speaker 1: largest concentration of undocumented immigrants of any industry. UM. But 171 00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:51,920 Speaker 1: that history of racism, UM, and the legacy of slavery 172 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:56,920 Speaker 1: has so profoundly shaped our workforce from day one, UM. 173 00:11:57,040 --> 00:12:01,120 Speaker 1: And the kind of signature moment of this was in 174 00:12:01,200 --> 00:12:05,920 Speaker 1: the nineteen thirties when Congress was discussing the New Deal 175 00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:09,720 Speaker 1: labor laws, the labor laws that would be the foundation 176 00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:16,080 Speaker 1: of our countries rights for workers. Southern di secrats refused 177 00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:20,240 Speaker 1: to support those bills if they included farm workers and 178 00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:31,760 Speaker 1: domestic workers. Southern member of Congress essentially UM. And that exclusion, 179 00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:36,120 Speaker 1: explicit exclusion of domestic workers from those labor laws really 180 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:39,079 Speaker 1: set the tone for how this workforce would be treated 181 00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:41,320 Speaker 1: and how it would always be treated as less than 182 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:47,600 Speaker 1: real work. UM. And so so many laws exclude domestic 183 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:50,960 Speaker 1: workers at the federal level. And what we've tried to 184 00:12:51,040 --> 00:12:56,160 Speaker 1: do is state by state, city by city, organized and 185 00:12:57,040 --> 00:13:00,600 Speaker 1: established rights. We call them domestic workers Bill of Rights. 186 00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:05,280 Speaker 1: The first one passed in New York in and now 187 00:13:05,360 --> 00:13:10,080 Speaker 1: we have eleven statewide bills of rights for domestic workers 188 00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:15,240 Speaker 1: and two in the cities of Seattle and Philadelphia. And 189 00:13:15,320 --> 00:13:18,280 Speaker 1: one thing that's really powerful about this story is that 190 00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:23,320 Speaker 1: Virginia just became the most recent state this year, just 191 00:13:23,360 --> 00:13:27,040 Speaker 1: a month ago, to pass a domestic worker bill of rights, 192 00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:31,480 Speaker 1: and it's the first state in the South to pass 193 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:37,120 Speaker 1: a bill. And it was championed by two amazing black women, 194 00:13:37,440 --> 00:13:44,000 Speaker 1: including one Senator McClellan, whose grandmother was a domestic worker 195 00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:47,880 Speaker 1: and was probably working at the time when the New 196 00:13:47,920 --> 00:13:52,679 Speaker 1: Deal excluded her. So it's just a kind of incredible 197 00:13:52,720 --> 00:13:58,160 Speaker 1: full circle of what we can do when we build movements, 198 00:13:58,200 --> 00:14:01,520 Speaker 1: when we organize, when we fall the leadership of black women, 199 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:07,400 Speaker 1: UH to really change the course of history. Can you 200 00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:11,160 Speaker 1: give me some examples of what is in a domestic 201 00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:16,880 Speaker 1: workers bill of rights? What are domestic workers historically excluded from? 202 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:21,760 Speaker 1: What are they fighting for and winning today? Domestic workers 203 00:14:21,760 --> 00:14:25,000 Speaker 1: in the nineteen thirties were excluded from the right to 204 00:14:25,360 --> 00:14:30,200 Speaker 1: collectively bargain and form a union. Um So the National 205 00:14:30,280 --> 00:14:33,640 Speaker 1: Labor Relations Act, which gives workers the right to join 206 00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:38,520 Speaker 1: a union and bargain collectively. UM Also, the Fair Labor 207 00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:42,640 Speaker 1: Standards Act, which established the right to minimum wage and 208 00:14:42,800 --> 00:14:48,400 Speaker 1: over time, excluded domestic workers initially, and many generations of 209 00:14:48,560 --> 00:14:53,480 Speaker 1: incredible women before US organized to try to win inclusion, 210 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:57,400 Speaker 1: and in the nineteen seventies, thanks to the efforts of 211 00:14:57,440 --> 00:15:01,640 Speaker 1: a woman named Dorothy Bolden from George who led the 212 00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:05,560 Speaker 1: National Domestic Workers Union in the sixties, she was really 213 00:15:05,640 --> 00:15:10,960 Speaker 1: successful in gaining inclusion for most domestic workers in minimum 214 00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:15,480 Speaker 1: wage and overtime protections. And we've tried to build off 215 00:15:15,560 --> 00:15:19,040 Speaker 1: of that to win more and more. The state bills 216 00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:23,480 Speaker 1: make sure that they're they're all different, because every state's 217 00:15:23,560 --> 00:15:26,640 Speaker 1: labor laws are a little bit different. But in New 218 00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:32,120 Speaker 1: York we won protection from discrimination and harassment minimum of 219 00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:35,240 Speaker 1: three days paid leave three days per what period of 220 00:15:35,280 --> 00:15:39,880 Speaker 1: time over a year. Minimum of three days paid leave 221 00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:45,000 Speaker 1: for a three hundred sixty five day year. That seems 222 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:49,160 Speaker 1: like a very modest ask. I mean, it wasn't what 223 00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:52,600 Speaker 1: we went in with, I'll tell you that much. But 224 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:56,600 Speaker 1: you know, in Massachusetts we were able to win parental leave, 225 00:15:56,720 --> 00:16:00,760 Speaker 1: maternity leave for domestic workers. So every state is a 226 00:16:00,760 --> 00:16:04,720 Speaker 1: little different and um, And I would say that it's 227 00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:08,480 Speaker 1: all a work in progress, uh, and that organizing is 228 00:16:08,560 --> 00:16:12,120 Speaker 1: essential because even when there are rights on the books, 229 00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:17,480 Speaker 1: it really requires that we assert those rights and enforce them. 230 00:16:17,600 --> 00:16:20,680 Speaker 1: And it's hard to do that in an industry where 231 00:16:20,720 --> 00:16:22,920 Speaker 1: everyone is so spread out. I mean, you could go 232 00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:27,280 Speaker 1: into any neighborhood and not know which homes are also workplaces. 233 00:16:27,880 --> 00:16:33,320 Speaker 1: There's no list, there's no registry, there's no sign um. 234 00:16:33,400 --> 00:16:38,440 Speaker 1: And so how do you enforce rights and improve conditions 235 00:16:38,440 --> 00:16:44,160 Speaker 1: in that context? It takes really well educated, organized workers 236 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:48,080 Speaker 1: who understand what their rights are and have the ability 237 00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:52,880 Speaker 1: to assert them. You describe a bit of your upbringing. 238 00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:57,640 Speaker 1: I got glimpses, and you're spending your life organizing with 239 00:16:57,680 --> 00:17:04,440 Speaker 1: domestic workers. How do you reconcile or address the fact 240 00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:13,040 Speaker 1: that you're not a domestic worker. I believe that domestic 241 00:17:13,080 --> 00:17:24,360 Speaker 1: workers deserve a powerful, excellent, impactful organization, and I want 242 00:17:24,359 --> 00:17:28,040 Speaker 1: to be a part of building that because I believe 243 00:17:28,200 --> 00:17:33,840 Speaker 1: that if we are to have a country that is equitable, 244 00:17:34,080 --> 00:17:39,399 Speaker 1: that puts the well being of women and people of 245 00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:43,880 Speaker 1: color at the center, UM, that we're going to need 246 00:17:43,960 --> 00:17:47,560 Speaker 1: domestic workers to have a really strong and powerful organization. 247 00:17:47,640 --> 00:17:51,920 Speaker 1: To get there. Um. In some ways, this idea that 248 00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:55,160 Speaker 1: the people that our systems have failed the longest are 249 00:17:55,200 --> 00:17:58,840 Speaker 1: in the best position to lead the way forward is 250 00:17:58,880 --> 00:18:01,160 Speaker 1: one that I just really we believe and has been 251 00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:04,679 Speaker 1: reinforced for me time and time again. So if I 252 00:18:04,720 --> 00:18:09,480 Speaker 1: can be a part of building the platform and the 253 00:18:09,600 --> 00:18:13,840 Speaker 1: vehicles for that to happen, I can't think of anywhere 254 00:18:13,840 --> 00:18:19,520 Speaker 1: I'd rather be. As you try to recruit more domestic 255 00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:23,480 Speaker 1: workers to these efforts, what are some of the great challenges. 256 00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:31,240 Speaker 1: I mean, most domestic workers are really just struggling to survive, 257 00:18:32,480 --> 00:18:37,439 Speaker 1: and especially now, it is a full blown depression for 258 00:18:37,560 --> 00:18:41,639 Speaker 1: this workforce. Um. People keep using the word recession, and 259 00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:44,840 Speaker 1: I'm like, what, it's a full blown depression. I mean 260 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:50,359 Speaker 1: of our workforce is unemployed, a huge number undocumented, living 261 00:18:50,400 --> 00:18:54,520 Speaker 1: in fear of being separated from their families, and those 262 00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:57,280 Speaker 1: who are working are working for less money than they 263 00:18:57,320 --> 00:19:01,440 Speaker 1: were before the pandemic, and it was already poverty wages 264 00:19:01,600 --> 00:19:05,240 Speaker 1: coming in the average income of a home care worker 265 00:19:05,400 --> 00:19:11,199 Speaker 1: in America's seventeen thousand dollars per year. I mean, I 266 00:19:11,240 --> 00:19:13,639 Speaker 1: don't know a single town or a city in this 267 00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:16,840 Speaker 1: country where you can survive off of seventeen thousand dollars 268 00:19:16,840 --> 00:19:19,760 Speaker 1: a year, let alone raise your family. I remember one 269 00:19:19,920 --> 00:19:22,520 Speaker 1: early meeting in the pandemic where we had a zoom 270 00:19:22,560 --> 00:19:25,840 Speaker 1: call with domestic workers and one of our members held 271 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:28,159 Speaker 1: up her phone to the zoom camera to show us 272 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:31,120 Speaker 1: that there was literally one cent left in her bank account. 273 00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:35,399 Speaker 1: So just the day to day struggle to survive is 274 00:19:36,280 --> 00:19:40,800 Speaker 1: both the challenge and also the opportunity, because I do 275 00:19:41,080 --> 00:19:45,000 Speaker 1: think that for domestic workers, when we start to talk 276 00:19:45,040 --> 00:19:49,440 Speaker 1: to them and engage and listen, I think it's it's 277 00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:53,440 Speaker 1: becomes very clear, very quickly why we need to come 278 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:58,480 Speaker 1: together and and what is there to lose really in 279 00:19:58,520 --> 00:20:04,160 Speaker 1: the end, So there are many challenges, but there are 280 00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:09,359 Speaker 1: also many many openings, and um right now in particular, 281 00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:12,720 Speaker 1: I think we are in this a new new Deal 282 00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:22,000 Speaker 1: moment honestly where more deeper, impactful change is possible than 283 00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:26,159 Speaker 1: my entire twenty five years of organizing. Literally it's stuff 284 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:30,160 Speaker 1: that we've been chipping away at for decades. I feel 285 00:20:30,160 --> 00:20:34,200 Speaker 1: like it is really like just right there, right right there, 286 00:20:35,040 --> 00:20:38,320 Speaker 1: And so I'm of the mind that we have to 287 00:20:38,400 --> 00:20:45,800 Speaker 1: take every bit of power, every relationship, every ounce of 288 00:20:45,920 --> 00:20:50,600 Speaker 1: hope and determination that we have to win big for 289 00:20:50,640 --> 00:20:55,360 Speaker 1: our communities right now and um and I think domestic 290 00:20:55,359 --> 00:20:58,520 Speaker 1: workers are ready. I mean, we have more participation on 291 00:20:58,560 --> 00:21:03,000 Speaker 1: our membership call than ever before in a pandemic. So 292 00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:09,600 Speaker 1: I feel I feel excited and I feel hopeful we'll 293 00:21:09,640 --> 00:21:27,040 Speaker 1: be right back. M m mm hmmm mmmmm. I want 294 00:21:27,040 --> 00:21:30,439 Speaker 1: you to define some things for me and certainly for 295 00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:36,520 Speaker 1: our listeners. Can you define what the new Deal was 296 00:21:36,800 --> 00:21:41,040 Speaker 1: in terms of US history and then describe this new 297 00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:44,840 Speaker 1: new deal that you see the potential for in what's 298 00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:50,000 Speaker 1: new about it? I think that every few generations there 299 00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:56,840 Speaker 1: are these moments where social movements in our country, like 300 00:21:56,960 --> 00:22:00,440 Speaker 1: the labor movement of the nineteen thirties, the Seven Rights 301 00:22:00,480 --> 00:22:06,199 Speaker 1: movement of the sixties and seventies, catalyze a big opening 302 00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:11,280 Speaker 1: for structural change, meaning changes in our systems and our 303 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:15,920 Speaker 1: policies that shape our lives and their moments where we 304 00:22:16,080 --> 00:22:21,400 Speaker 1: update our democracy for the next several generations to make 305 00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:24,840 Speaker 1: it better. And what the labor movement of the nineteen 306 00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:28,280 Speaker 1: thirties did was catalyzed this moment. It was also a 307 00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:30,840 Speaker 1: time when we were coming out of a depression an 308 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:34,880 Speaker 1: economic crisis, and there needed to be a massive reset 309 00:22:35,800 --> 00:22:39,520 Speaker 1: and the New Deal was a moment where we put 310 00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:46,760 Speaker 1: these foundational, sweeping policies in place to try to reset 311 00:22:47,119 --> 00:22:51,280 Speaker 1: and adjust our economy and our democracy for the next phase. 312 00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:55,919 Speaker 1: And it was social movements that created the context for that, workers, 313 00:22:55,960 --> 00:23:01,120 Speaker 1: everyday people organizing, and it's always been the case. This 314 00:23:01,240 --> 00:23:05,600 Speaker 1: is our moment where the movement for Black Lives, the 315 00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:11,600 Speaker 1: re energized intersectional women's movement, all of our social movements 316 00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:17,800 Speaker 1: that have converged in really powerful ways that mobilized unprecedented 317 00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:20,920 Speaker 1: numbers of voters to turn out to the polls last year. 318 00:23:22,080 --> 00:23:26,000 Speaker 1: We have created the context, in addition to a pandemic 319 00:23:27,280 --> 00:23:32,080 Speaker 1: and the economic fallout of it, for another reset. And 320 00:23:32,160 --> 00:23:34,919 Speaker 1: so that's what I mean by new new deals like 321 00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:41,600 Speaker 1: this is our moment to reset our frameworks to better 322 00:23:41,760 --> 00:23:45,960 Speaker 1: match our values and our vision for the future. And 323 00:23:46,520 --> 00:23:51,560 Speaker 1: um movements created this moment of opportunity, and movements have 324 00:23:51,720 --> 00:23:54,439 Speaker 1: to kind of seal the deal and get us across 325 00:23:54,480 --> 00:23:58,160 Speaker 1: the finish line too, and if not the finish line, 326 00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:02,840 Speaker 1: at least another significant mile marker another not the finish 327 00:24:02,880 --> 00:24:06,560 Speaker 1: line by any stretch, that is correct. I stand corrected. 328 00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:14,240 Speaker 1: I love the image. I'm such a technical, technological person 329 00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:18,040 Speaker 1: and the idea of updating our democracy. I was like, 330 00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:21,639 Speaker 1: that's like an iOS firmware update, a new version of Android, 331 00:24:22,119 --> 00:24:27,000 Speaker 1: update the democracy firmware. Let's go, let's go. You use 332 00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:32,880 Speaker 1: the terms economy and democracy often impairs what is your 333 00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:38,960 Speaker 1: view of the connection between the economy and democracy. These 334 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:43,160 Speaker 1: two things really do go hand in hand, because whoever 335 00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:48,040 Speaker 1: has power in our democracy is going to design policies 336 00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:52,440 Speaker 1: in the interests of those people, right, And the more 337 00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:56,240 Speaker 1: of us engage in our democracy, the more of us 338 00:24:56,520 --> 00:25:00,000 Speaker 1: can have a say over the kind of economic policy 339 00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:04,080 Speaker 1: see that shapes our lives and our work and our 340 00:25:04,119 --> 00:25:06,920 Speaker 1: wages and our ability to take care of our families. 341 00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:12,520 Speaker 1: It's uh, it's all connected, and the flywheel has been 342 00:25:12,520 --> 00:25:16,480 Speaker 1: going in the wrong direction, and we have the opportunity 343 00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:19,679 Speaker 1: to to flip it and have it be more of 344 00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:24,679 Speaker 1: a virtuous cycle where we the people, we engage, we vote, 345 00:25:24,880 --> 00:25:32,679 Speaker 1: we organize, we elect, and we move the elected to 346 00:25:33,320 --> 00:25:37,719 Speaker 1: pass the policies that we need in order to live well. 347 00:25:38,320 --> 00:25:42,159 Speaker 1: Then we go back again and we continue to organize 348 00:25:42,240 --> 00:25:45,679 Speaker 1: and build our power and vote more. And that is 349 00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:50,800 Speaker 1: how we make sure that our policies, including our economic policies, 350 00:25:51,480 --> 00:25:55,399 Speaker 1: work for all of us. What are some of the 351 00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:59,919 Speaker 1: national Domestic Worker Alliances accomplishments that you're most proud of. 352 00:26:00,880 --> 00:26:05,359 Speaker 1: I'm proud of this Virginia Bill because it is the 353 00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:08,520 Speaker 1: first bill of rights in the South, and it just 354 00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:14,080 Speaker 1: feels so important and symbolic. Um. I'm really proud of 355 00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:17,320 Speaker 1: the work we did last year to provide emergency cash 356 00:26:17,359 --> 00:26:21,160 Speaker 1: assistance to domestic workers who were impacted by the COVID crisis. 357 00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:25,920 Speaker 1: We distributed more than thirty million dollars to over fifty 358 00:26:25,960 --> 00:26:30,720 Speaker 1: thousand domestic workers who were impacted by the crisis. And 359 00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:36,720 Speaker 1: I am incredibly proud of this portable benefits platform. So 360 00:26:36,760 --> 00:26:40,240 Speaker 1: in the weeds, but we built a benefits platform called 361 00:26:40,280 --> 00:26:44,479 Speaker 1: Aaliyah that helps domestic workers get access to benefits for 362 00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:48,000 Speaker 1: the first time. And that feels really exciting. What makes 363 00:26:48,040 --> 00:26:51,560 Speaker 1: it portable? What does that mean? Oh, portable benefits just 364 00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:54,679 Speaker 1: mean that they follow you, so they're not attached to 365 00:26:54,760 --> 00:26:58,560 Speaker 1: one job, They're attached to you. So if you clean 366 00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:01,320 Speaker 1: ten houses, you can have all ton of your clients 367 00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:05,240 Speaker 1: contribute to your benefits fund and then you get to 368 00:27:05,280 --> 00:27:07,720 Speaker 1: pick what benefit you want to apply the money and 369 00:27:07,760 --> 00:27:11,080 Speaker 1: your fund towards. A lot of people pick paid time off. 370 00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:13,680 Speaker 1: But there's also other kinds of products that you can pick. 371 00:27:14,160 --> 00:27:17,440 Speaker 1: That's amazing. Um. There, I had a thought about a 372 00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:22,320 Speaker 1: portable benefits package everybody should have that. Why do we 373 00:27:22,600 --> 00:27:27,080 Speaker 1: lash our benefits, our health insurance to one particular job 374 00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:30,080 Speaker 1: that that's never quite made sense to me just as 375 00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:33,040 Speaker 1: a human being. So if you can bring that innovation, 376 00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:36,560 Speaker 1: we'll apply that update, hopefully across the whole economy and 377 00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:40,920 Speaker 1: update our economy operating system as well. I would love that. 378 00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:45,320 Speaker 1: It's so funny because we were contacted by blues musicians 379 00:27:45,359 --> 00:27:49,240 Speaker 1: in Chicago who basically were like, Hey, could this work 380 00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:52,280 Speaker 1: for us? Because we really need this too. And I 381 00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:55,119 Speaker 1: just think more and more of us all the time 382 00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:58,560 Speaker 1: fall through the cracks of an outdated safety net, which 383 00:27:58,640 --> 00:28:02,480 Speaker 1: is why we need to update system. And this is 384 00:28:02,520 --> 00:28:06,840 Speaker 1: a model for a model, right, um, for how we 385 00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:10,679 Speaker 1: might think about that. So we have this term in 386 00:28:10,720 --> 00:28:16,080 Speaker 1: the United States, uh, the working poor. You've been working 387 00:28:16,119 --> 00:28:19,520 Speaker 1: with people who are excluded historically, who are denied access 388 00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:23,679 Speaker 1: to standards, to rights, to the ability to organize. What 389 00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:27,399 Speaker 1: are your thoughts about the term and also about the 390 00:28:27,440 --> 00:28:32,879 Speaker 1: people who are in part at least defined by it. 391 00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:35,640 Speaker 1: It breaks my heart that we need to have that term, 392 00:28:35,760 --> 00:28:38,640 Speaker 1: that that term is even a thing, but it is 393 00:28:38,680 --> 00:28:41,960 Speaker 1: a thing. I mean, there are millions upon millions of 394 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:47,040 Speaker 1: people who work incredibly hard every single day and still 395 00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:50,400 Speaker 1: can't pay the bills. And there was that incredible study 396 00:28:50,480 --> 00:28:53,640 Speaker 1: that happened way before the pandemic that showed that more 397 00:28:53,680 --> 00:28:57,200 Speaker 1: than half of all Americans didn't have the ability to 398 00:28:57,360 --> 00:29:03,040 Speaker 1: survive a four dollar unexpected crisis US. And that to me, 399 00:29:04,360 --> 00:29:11,719 Speaker 1: in a country like ours, with so many resources, so 400 00:29:11,880 --> 00:29:17,800 Speaker 1: much talent, so much abundance in every way, the fact 401 00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:22,000 Speaker 1: that that is the reality of work in America is 402 00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:26,360 Speaker 1: just it's crazy to me. It is crazy to me. 403 00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:29,960 Speaker 1: And until we fix that, I don't know that we 404 00:29:30,040 --> 00:29:35,880 Speaker 1: can get to the future that we want in this country. 405 00:29:36,040 --> 00:29:38,360 Speaker 1: So I guess what I think about that term is 406 00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:42,840 Speaker 1: that we need to work really hard to no longer 407 00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:49,800 Speaker 1: have that term and are vernacular. Mhm. This idea that 408 00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:52,960 Speaker 1: we have a group of people called the working poor 409 00:29:53,720 --> 00:29:57,320 Speaker 1: suggest that folks can work maybe two full time jobs 410 00:29:57,880 --> 00:30:02,240 Speaker 1: and still not have enough money to survive. Has that 411 00:30:02,440 --> 00:30:04,880 Speaker 1: always been the case? Is it has it gotten worse? 412 00:30:06,280 --> 00:30:08,880 Speaker 1: I wonder if it was always a thing for some 413 00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:16,760 Speaker 1: communities in Black communities, in immigrant communities, there was a 414 00:30:16,800 --> 00:30:22,800 Speaker 1: way in which parts of the economy were created where 415 00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:27,560 Speaker 1: it was acceptable to pay people a lot less to 416 00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:33,240 Speaker 1: work very hard UM, and the narrative was associated with 417 00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:38,040 Speaker 1: race and gender because we are somehow less, we are 418 00:30:38,120 --> 00:30:46,360 Speaker 1: somehow less than fully human, less than skilled, less than right. 419 00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:50,800 Speaker 1: That there was a narrative that was very much racialized 420 00:30:50,880 --> 00:30:57,240 Speaker 1: and gendered UM that enabled um the creation of jobs 421 00:30:57,280 --> 00:31:01,080 Speaker 1: in our labor market that were essentially poverty wage jobs, 422 00:31:01,800 --> 00:31:06,440 Speaker 1: jobs that you can survive on. And I think it 423 00:31:06,480 --> 00:31:11,720 Speaker 1: has gotten worse. It has to do with the concentration 424 00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:15,600 Speaker 1: of power in the hands and in the interests of 425 00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:22,680 Speaker 1: a tiny wealthy elite and corporations. And the reality is 426 00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:29,560 Speaker 1: that working people have generated a ton of wealth. Productivity 427 00:31:29,640 --> 00:31:33,160 Speaker 1: is off the charts. People are working and they are 428 00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:37,760 Speaker 1: not benefiting. And every year they benefit less from the 429 00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:43,320 Speaker 1: productivity and the profits that they generate. And we have 430 00:31:43,920 --> 00:31:48,600 Speaker 1: over time worn away at our safety net. I mean, 431 00:31:49,320 --> 00:31:51,560 Speaker 1: in the nineties, when I first started doing this work, 432 00:31:51,600 --> 00:31:54,360 Speaker 1: it was seen as marginal, you know, just kind of 433 00:31:54,400 --> 00:31:57,959 Speaker 1: on the edges and the shadows of our economy. Today, 434 00:31:57,960 --> 00:32:01,360 Speaker 1: when I look around, more, more and more people work 435 00:32:01,600 --> 00:32:09,040 Speaker 1: under those same circumstances of unpredictable hours, you don't even 436 00:32:09,080 --> 00:32:12,160 Speaker 1: know sometimes who your boss is, You work for an 437 00:32:12,200 --> 00:32:16,760 Speaker 1: app um, you don't have benefits, you don't have job security, 438 00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:20,160 Speaker 1: and you're piecing it together. And it's kind of like 439 00:32:20,240 --> 00:32:24,479 Speaker 1: the domestic work ification of work in our country. And 440 00:32:24,520 --> 00:32:27,040 Speaker 1: it's kind of like people of color, women of color 441 00:32:27,440 --> 00:32:31,600 Speaker 1: saw that first. And what we've had is a gravitational 442 00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:37,520 Speaker 1: pull downward for everybody else, while people who benefit from 443 00:32:37,520 --> 00:32:42,120 Speaker 1: the status quo benefit more and more. Why do you 444 00:32:42,240 --> 00:32:46,959 Speaker 1: think that is such a real way of life in 445 00:32:46,960 --> 00:32:51,800 Speaker 1: this country right now? Because workers do not have enough 446 00:32:51,840 --> 00:32:56,280 Speaker 1: power in our economy. And the way that we build 447 00:32:56,800 --> 00:33:00,120 Speaker 1: power to do those things is by coming together other 448 00:33:00,240 --> 00:33:05,280 Speaker 1: and organizing and building movements, and and we've done it 449 00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:09,000 Speaker 1: in the past. Um. It is not an accident that 450 00:33:09,080 --> 00:33:14,200 Speaker 1: manufacturing jobs went from in the nineteen twenties and thirties 451 00:33:14,320 --> 00:33:18,600 Speaker 1: dangerous poverty wage sweatshop jobs that a lot of immigrants did, 452 00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:23,680 Speaker 1: two jobs that so called became the pathway to the 453 00:33:23,680 --> 00:33:29,200 Speaker 1: middle class. Right, They became good jobs where one generation 454 00:33:29,240 --> 00:33:31,800 Speaker 1: could do better than the next and you could own 455 00:33:31,840 --> 00:33:36,080 Speaker 1: a home and support a family. And that was not 456 00:33:36,160 --> 00:33:40,880 Speaker 1: an accident. That was organizing. That was workers building power. 457 00:33:43,080 --> 00:33:46,520 Speaker 1: You're you're putting agency back into the historical narrative there, 458 00:33:46,960 --> 00:33:49,840 Speaker 1: because I think media has learned that it just got better, 459 00:33:50,480 --> 00:33:53,200 Speaker 1: because America is a great place where things get better 460 00:33:53,240 --> 00:33:56,200 Speaker 1: all the time. Um and and there's a missing player 461 00:33:56,240 --> 00:33:58,880 Speaker 1: in that story, which is workers organizing to make it 462 00:33:58,920 --> 00:34:04,200 Speaker 1: better and to clear also multi racial organizing, workers coming 463 00:34:04,240 --> 00:34:11,319 Speaker 1: together across race and community and religion and culture to 464 00:34:11,600 --> 00:34:15,439 Speaker 1: find power and community in each other and with each other. 465 00:34:16,200 --> 00:34:22,279 Speaker 1: That is the unstoppable force. I can understand why a 466 00:34:22,280 --> 00:34:29,680 Speaker 1: worker would want more money, more security, more safety, more benefits. 467 00:34:30,520 --> 00:34:33,879 Speaker 1: That's good for the worker. Why is it good for 468 00:34:34,600 --> 00:34:39,160 Speaker 1: the business owner, the larger society, the random politician, for 469 00:34:39,239 --> 00:34:43,400 Speaker 1: the rest of us. The beautiful thing about care work 470 00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:50,160 Speaker 1: is that investing in it is like such a win 471 00:34:50,239 --> 00:34:58,800 Speaker 1: win win. If we make for example, home care jobs 472 00:34:58,800 --> 00:35:04,080 Speaker 1: good jobs, it not only benefits those workers and their families, 473 00:35:04,120 --> 00:35:07,919 Speaker 1: but it makes it possible for everybody else to get 474 00:35:07,920 --> 00:35:13,600 Speaker 1: back to work because we all need care. I mean, 475 00:35:14,239 --> 00:35:18,600 Speaker 1: this pandemic has pushed two million women out of the workforce, 476 00:35:18,880 --> 00:35:25,000 Speaker 1: disproportionately women of color, and largely because of caregiving challenges. 477 00:35:26,200 --> 00:35:30,879 Speaker 1: And it has revealed that care is essential, that we 478 00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:33,880 Speaker 1: cannot work if we do not have child care, and 479 00:35:33,920 --> 00:35:37,439 Speaker 1: if we do not have support for our loved ones 480 00:35:37,440 --> 00:35:40,239 Speaker 1: with disabilities, if we do not have care for our elders. 481 00:35:41,640 --> 00:35:45,719 Speaker 1: It is fundamental. It's like infrastructure. We think about infrastructure 482 00:35:45,760 --> 00:35:49,880 Speaker 1: as bridges and tunnels and broadband, But what could be 483 00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:55,200 Speaker 1: more fundamental infrastructure than the ability to make sure that 484 00:35:55,280 --> 00:35:57,920 Speaker 1: our families are loved ones are cared for so that 485 00:35:57,960 --> 00:36:01,560 Speaker 1: we can work. I call these jobs job enabling jobs 486 00:36:02,239 --> 00:36:05,239 Speaker 1: because they make it possible for everything else to work 487 00:36:05,280 --> 00:36:08,760 Speaker 1: and everyone else to work. What if we could allow 488 00:36:08,880 --> 00:36:12,440 Speaker 1: for every care worker who wants to do this work 489 00:36:12,560 --> 00:36:16,400 Speaker 1: to do so and feel like they are respected and 490 00:36:16,520 --> 00:36:19,040 Speaker 1: sustained in this work, and also take care of their 491 00:36:19,080 --> 00:36:24,480 Speaker 1: families too. Such a simple, simple idea, but so powerful. 492 00:36:25,239 --> 00:36:29,000 Speaker 1: We all need care. We all need care, and the 493 00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:32,520 Speaker 1: idea of care as infrastructure should trademark that. That's pretty good, 494 00:36:32,680 --> 00:36:35,800 Speaker 1: it's pretty thank you. I'm really trying to get members 495 00:36:35,800 --> 00:36:39,840 Speaker 1: of Congress to see it that way. So, um, what 496 00:36:40,160 --> 00:36:43,680 Speaker 1: have you learned about our economy through all your years 497 00:36:43,920 --> 00:36:53,280 Speaker 1: of organizing? What stands outmost to you? I am still 498 00:36:54,120 --> 00:36:59,520 Speaker 1: twenty years in I first started organizing domestic workers. And 499 00:37:00,560 --> 00:37:08,360 Speaker 1: I'm still shocked and appalled that this work of nurturing 500 00:37:08,840 --> 00:37:13,920 Speaker 1: children and the potential of our babies, making sure that 501 00:37:13,960 --> 00:37:19,640 Speaker 1: they're safe, um, the work of supporting the independence and 502 00:37:20,280 --> 00:37:24,320 Speaker 1: quality of life of people with disabilities, the work of 503 00:37:25,600 --> 00:37:30,200 Speaker 1: making sure our elders can age with dignity, that that 504 00:37:30,280 --> 00:37:35,280 Speaker 1: work is some of the least valued, most underpaid work 505 00:37:35,400 --> 00:37:40,360 Speaker 1: in our economy is still shocking to me because it 506 00:37:40,520 --> 00:37:46,799 Speaker 1: is so profound and so fundamental our economy and what 507 00:37:46,840 --> 00:37:52,520 Speaker 1: we value is upside down. Yeah, what would right side 508 00:37:52,560 --> 00:37:59,600 Speaker 1: up look like? One that we wouldn't need this term 509 00:37:59,600 --> 00:38:03,840 Speaker 1: as so to work because we would understand that everyone 510 00:38:03,960 --> 00:38:09,399 Speaker 1: who's working is essential and that all work would have 511 00:38:09,800 --> 00:38:12,880 Speaker 1: inherent dignity where you could hold your head up high 512 00:38:12,920 --> 00:38:16,040 Speaker 1: and be proud of what you do and know that 513 00:38:16,080 --> 00:38:21,360 Speaker 1: your contributions were valued and that your humanity was recognized. 514 00:38:23,520 --> 00:38:27,600 Speaker 1: That's what right side up looks like. Well, thank you 515 00:38:27,680 --> 00:38:31,240 Speaker 1: for your work on behalf of those workers, on behalf 516 00:38:31,239 --> 00:38:34,840 Speaker 1: of us all. You've given me so much to think about. Egen, 517 00:38:34,920 --> 00:38:38,120 Speaker 1: I appreciate your time, uh and your labor. Thank you 518 00:38:38,200 --> 00:38:56,600 Speaker 1: so much. Thank you. As I was listening to and 519 00:38:56,680 --> 00:39:01,080 Speaker 1: talking with Eigen, I kept thinking, as well, I'm not 520 00:39:01,160 --> 00:39:06,280 Speaker 1: a domestic worker. I'm not in the working class. I 521 00:39:06,320 --> 00:39:10,960 Speaker 1: can pay my bills thankfully fingers crossedly. So why do 522 00:39:11,080 --> 00:39:14,719 Speaker 1: I care about all this? Because I know we can't 523 00:39:14,800 --> 00:39:19,319 Speaker 1: do this alone, Because even with my privilege, I have 524 00:39:19,400 --> 00:39:22,920 Speaker 1: been at the edge. I have had to borrow money 525 00:39:22,960 --> 00:39:26,080 Speaker 1: from friends to pay rent. I have been behind on 526 00:39:26,600 --> 00:39:30,000 Speaker 1: debt payments on those student loans. I have felt the 527 00:39:30,040 --> 00:39:34,880 Speaker 1: insecurity of exorbitant healthcare expenses that I thought would be 528 00:39:34,960 --> 00:39:38,400 Speaker 1: covered by my insurance, only to find out that they weren't. 529 00:39:39,160 --> 00:39:42,279 Speaker 1: So wherever any of us is on that spectrum, I 530 00:39:42,320 --> 00:39:45,480 Speaker 1: think we have an interest in making sure everybody's taken 531 00:39:45,480 --> 00:39:48,640 Speaker 1: care of. And I know that the types of things 532 00:39:48,640 --> 00:39:51,799 Speaker 1: that we need to do together are bigger than my 533 00:39:51,880 --> 00:39:57,200 Speaker 1: own individual financial security. I can't build a road all 534 00:39:57,239 --> 00:40:01,759 Speaker 1: by myself, and we can't take care of each other 535 00:40:01,880 --> 00:40:06,600 Speaker 1: all by ourselves. As Eigen put it, care is infrastructure, 536 00:40:07,440 --> 00:40:10,759 Speaker 1: and in a sign of progress, I think it's been 537 00:40:10,840 --> 00:40:13,600 Speaker 1: nice to hear our own President of the United States 538 00:40:13,719 --> 00:40:18,359 Speaker 1: and his infrastructure proposal use that similar language and try 539 00:40:18,400 --> 00:40:23,560 Speaker 1: to fund more domestic work. In this idea of infrastructure funding, 540 00:40:25,160 --> 00:40:29,840 Speaker 1: I feel good even hearing some of the challenges, because 541 00:40:30,480 --> 00:40:34,759 Speaker 1: Eigen reminded me that we are a part of potential 542 00:40:34,800 --> 00:40:38,640 Speaker 1: waves of historic progress, that we're in this moment, and 543 00:40:38,719 --> 00:40:43,360 Speaker 1: that progress only comes because we work, we organize. I know, 544 00:40:43,480 --> 00:40:45,640 Speaker 1: we hear this phrase a lot. The arc of the 545 00:40:45,680 --> 00:40:51,640 Speaker 1: moral universe bends towards justice. People bend that arc, preferably 546 00:40:51,719 --> 00:40:55,359 Speaker 1: large numbers of them with very strong bungee courts. And 547 00:40:55,400 --> 00:40:59,960 Speaker 1: we bend it by organizing, by working hard, by coopera 548 00:41:00,080 --> 00:41:03,120 Speaker 1: rating with one another to get all the things we 549 00:41:03,239 --> 00:41:10,080 Speaker 1: all deserve, which includes work with dignity. Next week, coop 550 00:41:10,280 --> 00:41:13,520 Speaker 1: organizer Jamila Medley shows us what an economy built on 551 00:41:13,600 --> 00:41:21,840 Speaker 1: cooperation looks like. Now, our Prince Sam is going to 552 00:41:21,880 --> 00:41:25,360 Speaker 1: tell you what to do, and you better do what 553 00:41:25,400 --> 00:41:27,040 Speaker 1: they tell you. I'm just gonna put it like that. 554 00:41:27,080 --> 00:41:28,360 Speaker 1: You know, I just don't want to be on Sam's 555 00:41:28,360 --> 00:41:34,040 Speaker 1: bad side, So seriously do everything Sam says. Think about 556 00:41:34,040 --> 00:41:36,239 Speaker 1: someone in your life who has cared for you. Think 557 00:41:36,239 --> 00:41:38,759 Speaker 1: about the value of that relationship. It could be a 558 00:41:38,800 --> 00:41:42,200 Speaker 1: family member and neighbor, a childcare provider, or some other 559 00:41:42,239 --> 00:41:45,000 Speaker 1: caregiver in your life. Give them a shout out, call 560 00:41:45,080 --> 00:41:48,200 Speaker 1: them and just let them know that you appreciate them. 561 00:41:48,239 --> 00:41:51,600 Speaker 1: Be an ethical employer, even at home. The National Domestic 562 00:41:51,680 --> 00:41:54,960 Speaker 1: Workers Alliance has a sister organization. It's called Hand in Hand, 563 00:41:55,160 --> 00:41:58,520 Speaker 1: and it offers support to employers of domestic workers. Check 564 00:41:58,520 --> 00:42:01,879 Speaker 1: out the resources on their website, Domestic Employers dot org 565 00:42:02,120 --> 00:42:04,560 Speaker 1: to learn how you can ethically emplace someone in your home. 566 00:42:05,360 --> 00:42:08,319 Speaker 1: If you're curious about the portable benefits agen mentioned, here's 567 00:42:08,320 --> 00:42:11,880 Speaker 1: two platforms that we've found promising Opolis and the Portable 568 00:42:11,880 --> 00:42:15,200 Speaker 1: Benefit Network. Share these options with others in your network 569 00:42:15,400 --> 00:42:17,719 Speaker 1: so many more people can vote with their dollars and 570 00:42:17,760 --> 00:42:19,960 Speaker 1: push for portable benefits as a part of a more 571 00:42:20,000 --> 00:42:25,360 Speaker 1: equitable working feature. Lastly, support the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights. 572 00:42:25,760 --> 00:42:28,440 Speaker 1: After winning domestic workers Bills of Rights in nine states 573 00:42:28,440 --> 00:42:31,520 Speaker 1: and two cities, the National Domestic Workers Alliance is leading 574 00:42:31,520 --> 00:42:35,360 Speaker 1: an effort to pass a national Domestic Workers Bill of Rights. 575 00:42:35,760 --> 00:42:37,640 Speaker 1: Follow the link in the show notes to add your 576 00:42:37,719 --> 00:42:41,240 Speaker 1: name and support. If you're take into these actions, please 577 00:42:41,280 --> 00:42:44,760 Speaker 1: brag about yourself online using the hashtag how to citizen 578 00:42:45,400 --> 00:42:48,320 Speaker 1: and send us general feedback or ideas for the show. 579 00:42:48,600 --> 00:42:52,000 Speaker 1: Two comments at how to citizen dot com. Speaking of 580 00:42:52,040 --> 00:42:54,839 Speaker 1: that domain name, we have one and we're using it. 581 00:42:55,120 --> 00:42:57,799 Speaker 1: Visit how to citizen dot com to sign up for 582 00:42:57,840 --> 00:43:01,399 Speaker 1: our newsletter. Will learn about upcoming the vints or even 583 00:43:01,400 --> 00:43:03,560 Speaker 1: more stuff than that. And if you like the show, 584 00:43:03,960 --> 00:43:07,719 Speaker 1: spread the word, tell somebody. If you don't, definitely just 585 00:43:07,800 --> 00:43:15,480 Speaker 1: keep it to yourself. Appreciate you. How does Citizen with 586 00:43:15,520 --> 00:43:18,400 Speaker 1: barrettun Day is a production of I Heart Radio Podcasts 587 00:43:18,440 --> 00:43:23,280 Speaker 1: and dust Like Productions. Our executive producers are Me barretton Day, Thurston, 588 00:43:23,600 --> 00:43:28,000 Speaker 1: Elizabeth Stewart, and Misha Yuson. Our producers are Stephanie Comb 589 00:43:28,160 --> 00:43:32,440 Speaker 1: and Ali Kilts. Kelly Prime is our editor, Valentino Rivera 590 00:43:32,600 --> 00:43:36,719 Speaker 1: is our engineer, and Sam Paulson is our apprentice. Original 591 00:43:36,800 --> 00:43:40,760 Speaker 1: music by Andrew Eaping. This episode was produced and sound 592 00:43:40,760 --> 00:43:44,120 Speaker 1: designed by Sam Paulson. Special thanks to Joel Smith from 593 00:43:44,120 --> 00:43:44,840 Speaker 1: my Heart Radio.