This past Saturday, we received word that our bill, AB 2314 (Ting) the Domestic Worker Rights Implementation Act was vetoed by Governor Jerry Brown. While we are disappointed that Governor Brown chose not to address the need to implement and strengthen labor protections for domestic workers, we know first hand that true change will happen by continuing to organize our communities and grow our movement. We have been building immigrant women worker leadership and power for over a decade, and we will continue to advocate until domestic workers rights and dignity are upheld in every California home.
The success we have had this campaign, moving AB 2314 through each committee and each house of the legislature, is the direct result of the political power that we have built together – brick by brick, year by year – over the past ten years of our Sacramento advocacy.
This 2018, we have made great strides in continuing to grow our political power as a Coalition and toward lifting the dignity of our industry. We have:
- Empowered new domestic worker leaders
- Trained first-time spokespeople to share their powerful stories and experiences
- Built stronger alliances to labor, women’s, and long-term care advocacy groups
- Developed a deeper understanding of our industry
- Received overwhelming support – a standing ovation from the Assembly Labor Committee! – which brought our bill all the way to the Governor’s desk!
Sacramento, we will see you next year!
PS. If you did not see it on Facebook, last week we held a Week of Action in our last push toward the Governor’s desk. All over the state, domestic worker leaders took photos of themselves doing the work! To raise the visibility of the need to make domestic worker #RightsAReality. Please take a look at our album on facebook to see all of the beautiful campaign photos.
