For Immediate Release
Contact Information
Cynthia Santana
Phone: 206-256-5219
Email: cynthia.santana@seattle.gov
Seattle Office of Labor Standards Announces Recipients of Domestic Worker Community Organizing Funding
Seattle, WA (September 7, 2022) – The Office of Labor Standards (OLS) announces recipients of one-time Domestic Worker Community Organizing Funding. ALA Garifuna, Centro Cultural Mexicano, and Fair Work Center will support community organizing projects that will help OLS to build wider and deeper connections with domestic workers in communities of color to understand their rights in Seattle. The 15-month contract period for these projects will run from October 1, 2022 to December 31, 2023.
Based on recommendations from the Domestic Workers Standards Board (DWSB), OLS conducted a competitive application process that was announced in June 2022 to expand outreach to domestic workers.
Preference was given to projects that:
- Used a clear organizing strategy (e.g., peer-to-peer)
- Involved mutually benefiting partnerships
- And/or built relationships in Asian/Pacific Islander and Black/African Descent communities
“The board is pleased to see that the organizations that are truly dedicated to fighting for the rights and dignity of the most vulnerable workers are receiving these funds. We hope that this is only the beginning of the efforts by the City of Seattle to work alongside those organizations in order to grow and expand their group of community partners,” said the Domestic Workers Standards Board. “The DWSB is committed to advocating for more inclusion of organizations that support underserved communities. Raising the voices of the ignored is the only way that we can achieve lasting change for the domestic worker community.”
“These contracts reflect a new outreach approach OLS is taking to both lean on existing community relationships and partner with new organizations to better connect with Seattle’s domestic worker community,” said Steven Marchese, OLS Director. “Under Seattle’s Domestic Workers Ordinance, domestic workers, including nannies, house cleaners, gardeners, household managers, cooks, and home care workers have important rights and protections. We want to make sure more domestic workers know about these rights, so they can access our assistance when there may be violations.”
Each organization was awarded a portion of the total $250,000 dollar funding. Scope of work and contract negotiations with OLS began in August/September 2022.
“ALA Garifuna Women play a critical role in bringing women together, sharing resources, and mobilizing policy action, offering workshops on topics such as how to access benefits, worker rights, and workplace technology. We will also organize community members around our domestic worker campaign by collectively advocating for domestic worker rights and getting our members enrolled in insurance. We expand our membership through investing in marketing and social media and partnering with other statewide and federal campaigns,” said Shaylan Dolmo, President and Co-founder ALA Garifuna Women.
“Centro Cultural Mexicano is thrilled to receive this funding which will allow us to share critical information about domestic workers rights in Seattle with our Latino community and with other communities of color. It is work we value, and we look forward to moving forward,” said Angie Hinojos, Executive Director Centro Cultural Mexicano.
“The isolation domestic workers face on the job requires unique strategies to ensure rights on paper are real in practice. Because these workers – particularly Black, brown, and immigrant workers – have been intentionally excluded from so many workplace laws, they may not trust government or know who to rely on for information. That’s why we are using this funding to build a new peer-to-peer enforcement program for nannies: we will train a small group of worker leaders to become trusted messengers on labor rights in their communities,” said Danielle Alvarado, Executive Director Fair Work Center. “We’re glad to have OLS commit additional resources to this critical organizing work, which will help more nannies lead our efforts to end labor standards violations and to disrupt the power imbalances between workers and employers in the industry.”
For more information on the Domestic Worker Community Organizing Funding please click here. To learn more about the Domestic Workers Ordinance please visit the OLS website here. More information about the Domestic Workers Standards Board can be found here.
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