Organized by Domestic Workers United, a group of domestic workers in New York City demonstrated March 24 to press city legislators to approve a proposed bill requiring employment agencies and families to sign a contract that would guarantee payment of minimum wages, overtime pay, and other benefits. "I'm supporting this bill because a lot of us are working long hours without overtime pay and no vacation and no sick days," said one of the workers. The group's organizers estimate that some 200,000 people--the vast majority of them immigrant women--work in New York City, and 600,000 in the metropolitan area, as nannies, baby-sitters, and house cleaners for minimum wage or less. The workers are also demanding eight paid holidays, one week's severance pay for each year worked, payment of transportation for workers living outside the city, and medical coverage either through medical insurance or direct payment for annual checkups and emergency medical care.
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