NEW YORK - Last month, a group of domestic workers staged a demonstration in front of a residential apartment of an abusive employer in the usually quiet Upper Eastside Manhattan neighborhood on 96th street. The demonstrators, led by Damayan Migrant Workers Association, were chanting “Free, free domestic workers! End, end the slavery!” The more than 35 individuals were led by Damayan, a grassroots membership based organization primarily composed of Filipina domestic workers. Banners, placards and chants demanded justice for Imelda, a 42 year-old domestic worker who was abused by her former employers, Ira Ballen and Debbie Goldberg.
Imelda
has filed legal action against her former employers and has linked
arms with sister workers in a fight to uphold the rights of all
domestic workers.
The
rally was also attended by Domestic Workers United, Gabriela Network
and Ugnayan ng mga Anak ng Bayan Linking the Children o the
Motherland. ‘We are here for a mutual goal to fight bad employers
who enslave domestic workers and to encourage the rest of us who are
in this situation to be bold enough to come out of the shadows of
isolation," said Imelda. From July 2006 to February 2007, Imelda
was hired to be a live-in caregiver for an elderly woman with
Alzheimer, worked 87 hours a week without overtime pay and received a
daily wage of $6.90 an hour, a violation of the minimum wage law.
Damayan, in partnership with the Asian American Legal Defense Fund,
initiated the Justice for Imelda campaign to retrieve unpaid wages,
overtime pay and minimum wage violation. Imelda is one of the 200,000
domestic workers in New York City.
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