Dave Maley, 10/1/2009
ITHACA, NY — A campaigner for the rights of domestic workers will speak at Ithaca College on Monday, Oct. 12, as part of a yearlong discussion series on “Race and Immigration.” Titled “Domestic Workers Organizing at the Intersection of Crisis and Recovery,” the free public talk by Joycelyn Gill-Campbell will be held at 7 p.m. in Clark Lounge, Egbert Hall.
Gill-Campbell works for Domestic Workers United (DWU), a New York City-based organization of Caribbean, Latina and African nannies, housekeepers and caregivers for the elderly that seeks to gain power, respect and fair labor standards. The group is campaigning for New York State to adopt a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, which would require paid vacations, health benefits, severance pay and notice prior to being fired.
A native of Barbados — where she was a teacher and served in the national defense service — Gill-Campbell worked as a nanny in New York City for many years before becoming a full-time organizer for DWU. A survey by the organization found that 26 percent of domestic workers live below the poverty line, 65 percent do not receive overtime pay and 90 percent don’t have employer-paid health benefits.
“As members of Domestic Workers United, we know that we need laws to protect us against exploitation; we also need to change the global economic system that forces us into these exploitative positions, leaving our homelands and families to survive,” says Gill-Campbell. “Now the pressure on us is even greater, as our families abroad also feel the effects of the crisis.”
The discussion series is sponsored by the Ithaca College Center for the Study of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity, which is part of the Division of Interdisciplinary and International Studies. The series explores the interlocking systems of oppression made apparent by mass migrations, the criminalization of undocumented workers, militarism and the expansion of the prison-industrial complex.
For more information: http://www.ithaca.edu/cscre/discussionseries/
Originally published in News Releases: Campaigner For Domestic Bill Of Rights To Speak At Ithaca College.
