Carolyn Said Anabel Garcia of Santa Rosa has cleaned houses for 19 years. She’s been instructed to use harsh chemicals that impacted her vision and breathing. She’s been hired through insurance companies after California wildfires to clean houses covered in ash, while smoke hung heavy in the air. With no protective gear, she had trouble…
By Jacqueline García Activists and domestic workers are asking Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign a bill that would extend safe work requirements to 13 million California households employing domestic help such as housekeepers and gardeners. Known as the Health and Safety for All Workers Act, the bill was approved by the Legislature on Aug. 27. Newsom has…
By FRANK SHYONG Sandra Martinez, 45, a housekeeper, used to work three days a week before the pandemic struck. Now she does the same work for one day’s pay, because her employer thought one housekeeping appointment was less risky than three. She used to take three buses to work, an epic commute that made her workdays…
Joshua Valenzuela In California, a recent Senate Bill 1257, The Health and Safety for All Workers Act, seeks to provide housekeeping and domestic workers with the same protections as most other workers under Cal/OSHA labor law (California’s Occupational Safety Administration Regulations). And it could compel more states, and even the federal government, to do the same.…