California Domestic Workers Coalition
HOMESEND A LETTERTAKE ACTION

asdjlsadjfasjfd;alsdfasdfasdfasdfdf

Domestic Workers Deserve Equal Protections!

Domestic workers such as nannies, house cleaners, and homecare workers face risk of injury and illness in the workplace everyday because they lack health and safety protections.

Governor Newsom, stand on the right side of history!
It’s time to protect ALL workers.

Everyone deserves a safe workplace!

Over 2 million homes across California depend on the essential care provided by more than 300,000 domestic workers – yet they remain without health and safety protections in the workplace.

For too long, the workers we entrust to care for our loved ones and our homes have been marginalized and dehumanized by intentional exclusion from our worker protection laws. These exclusions are a remnant of our country’s ugly past and blatant discrimination against Black and women workers that continue on in our state’s labor code today.

As a result, domestic workers are regularly exposed to health and safety threats. These include exposure to toxic products, heavy lifting leading to muscle tears, sprains, back  injuries and other long-term chronic conditions such as asthma, coughing, vision impairment impacts on the reproductive system, and more.

It is long past time for California to rectify this historical wrong and provide dignity and safety to hundreds of thousands of California domestic workers.

Teresa Delgado, member of La Colectiva cleaning her employer Mary’s home in San Francisco, Calif. Photo by Alison Yin/Alison Yin Photography
Teresita Sattar, a homecare worker and member of Pilipino Worker Center, holds sign for an SB 686 day of action in Sacramento, Calif. Photo by Brooke Anderson/Movement Photography

The Health and Safety for All Workers Act, SB 686 (Durazo)

SB 686 will ensure that all workers have a safe workplace!

SB 686 builds on the work of SB 321, which California domestic workers advocated for and won in 2021 and which convened an Advisory Committee of domestic workers, employers, and occupational health and safety experts with Cal/OSHA to create the first ever health and safety guidelines for the domestic work industry that were published earlier this year.

These voluntary health and safety guidelines address the occupational risks and hazards domestic workers face every day, but do not go far enough to ensure protections for workers.

SB 686 seeks to implement the policy recommendations made by the committee which includes ending the household domestic services exclusion from California labor code. This would give Cal/OSHA the authority needed to implement health and safety protections for the in-home workforce.

The Health and Safety for All Workers Act, SB 686 is supported by:

National and State Leaders

Julia Arroyo
Co-Executive Director, Young Women’s Freedom Center

Melanie Campbell
National Convener, Black Women’s Roundtable

Karla Castañeda
Co-Executive Director, Voz: Workers Rights Education Project

Rebecca Dixon
President and CEO, National Employment Law Project

Kristin Rowe Finkbeiner
Executive Director/CEO & Co Founder, MomsRising

Jocelyn Frye
President, National Partnership for Women and Families

Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher
Executive Secretary – Treasurer, California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO

Fatima Gross Graves
President and CEO, National Women’s Law Center

Mary Kay Henry
International President, Service Employees International Union (SEIU)

Rusty Hicks
California Democratic Party (CADEM)*

Dolores Huerta 
Civil Rights Leader

Josie Kalipeni, 
Executive Director, Family Values at Work

Libby Schaaf
Former Mayor of Oakland

Elizabeth Shuler
President, AFL-CIO

Stacy Kono
Executive Director, Hand in Hand, the Domestic Employers Network

Reverend James Lawson 
Civil Rights Leader

Dina Bakst & Sherry Leiwant
Co-Founders & Co-Presidents, A Better Balance 

Frank Lima
General Secretary Treasurer, International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF)*

Gwen Mills
Secretary Treasurer, UNITE HERE International Union*

Tia Orr
Executive Director, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) California

Ai – jen Poo
Executive Director, Caring Across Generations

Monica Ramirez
Founder & President, Justice for Migrant Women

Sal Rosselli
President, National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW)

Jenn Stowe
Executive Director, National Domestic Workers Alliance

Yvonne Wheeler
President, Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO

Co-Sponsors

California Employment Lawyers Association
California Immigrant Policy Center
Equal Rights Advocates
Worksafe

Domestic Worker Leaders

Chinese Progressive Association 
Dolores Street Community Services 
El Centro Cultural De Mexico, Santa Ana 
Filipino Advocates for Justice 
Filipino Community Center
Filipino Migrant Center 
Institute of Popular Education of Southern California  
Mujeres Unidas Y Activas
People’s Association of Workers and Immigrants East Bay  
Pilipino Association of Workers and Immigrants South bay
Pilipino Workers Center
Pomona Economic Opportunity Center 
Raizes Colectiva

Organized Labor & Worker Centers

California Work & Family Coalition
Clean Carwash Worker Center 
Day Worker Center of Mountain View 
Jobs With Justice – North bay
Jobs With Justice -San Francisco 
North Bay Labor Council 
San Francisco Living Wage Coalition 
The Restaurant Opportunities Center of Los Angeles  
Trabajadores Unidos Workers United 
Warehouse Worker Resource Center

Community Empowerment Organizations

Bet Tzedek Legal Services 
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation 
Caminante Cultural Foundation 
First Mennonite Church of San Francisco 
Motivating Our Students Through Experience 
Or Shalom Jewish Community 
South of Market Community Action Network 
US Academy for Training and Job Placement for Immigrant Community Services Center
Visión Y Compromiso 


National and State Organizations

National Women’s Political Caucus of California
National Domestic Workers Alliance  
National Employment Law Project 
National Union of Healthcare Workers
California Legislative Women’s Caucus
California Labor Federation 
SEIU California 
Caring Across Generations   
Stronger California
California Immigrant Policy Center 
Coalition for Humane Immigrants Rights, Los Angeles
Working Partnership USA  

Racial and Gender Justice Organizations

AAPIs for Civic Empowerment Education Fund 
Alliance of South Asians Taking Action 
Asian Pacific Environmental Network 
Bay Rising 
Black Women for Wellness
Californians for A Healthy and Green Economy 
Catalyst Project 
Empowering Pacific Islander Communities 
Gabriela Oakland 
Grace Institute – End Child Poverty in Ca
El/La Para Trans Latinas 
Multicultural Institute
Showing Up for Racial Justice – Bay Area 
Women’s Voices for The Earth 

Health Organizations and Academic Institutions

Breast Cancer Prevention Partners 
California Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health
Labor Occupational Health Program, UC Berkeley 
Labor Occupational Safety & Health Program, UCLA 
Network Impact Sport Philanthropy 
Physicians for Social Responsibility – Los Angeles Southern

Disability and Aging Justice Organizations

California Commission on Aging 
Disability Rights California 
Grey Panthers 
Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network
Senior & Disability Action

Take Action to Support Domestic Worker Health and Safety!

The California Domestic Workers Coalition and allies organize an SB 686 day of action in Sacramento, Calif. Photo by Brooke Anderson/Movement Photography