
Truthout is a vital news source and a living history of political struggle. If you think our work is valuable, support us with a donation of any size.
Largely working isolated in people’s private homes, the exploitation of domestic workers has been well documented throughout history. But with the passage of New York’s Domestic Workers Bill of Rights in 2010, the tide is beginning to turn. Workers are now organizing in California and other states to win basic rights and protections long denied to this labor force. Along the way, they have had to come up with creative solutions to systemic challenges.
Special thanks to Georgia State University Library’s Southern Labor Archives, Special Collections and Archives Department. Interview conducted by Chris Lutz with Dorothy Bolden on August 31, 1995 in Atlanta, GA.
Featuring:
Ai-Jen Poo, National Alliance for Domestic Workers director; Priscilla Gonzalez, Domestic Workers United director; Premilla Nadasen, associate professor of history, Queens College; Dorothy Bolden, former domestic worker; Jill Shenker, National Domestic Worker Alliance field director; Jessica Lehman, Hand in Hand organizer; Rachel McCullough Jews for Radical and Economic Justice organizer; Katie Joaquin, Filipino Advocates for Justice organizer; Mario de Mira, Filipino Community Center organizer.
Media that fights fascism
Truthout is funded almost entirely by readers — that’s why we can speak truth to power and cut against the mainstream narrative. But independent journalists at Truthout face mounting political repression under Trump.
We rely on your support to survive McCarthyist censorship. Please make a tax-deductible one-time or monthly donation.