Workers, Not Servants: Black Domestic Worker Organizing and Resistance

We the (Black) People

Not only were Black domestic workers organized laborers, but their fight for better working conditions reveals lessons about the Civil Rights Movement, the Feminist Movement, and organizing in today's gig economy. To tell this history and teach these lessons, I talk to Professor Premilla Nadasen, author of Household Workers Unite!

This isn't The Help's story of Black women as loyal victims. From the 1930s-1970s, domestic workers organized to empower individual employees and to collectively rally for standardization, professionalization, and protection under the Fair Labor Standards Act. And, they did not want to be called domestic workers. As part of their fight, they wanted to be called Household technicians because they were skilled workers.

Legally, domestic workers were not included in the worker protections of the New Deal (such as minimum wage). Practically, domestic work involved isolated single employees. That meant domestic workers had to fight creatively to be recognized as workers, not servants. They organized in public spaces, ran hiring halls, lobbied for legislative changes, and much more. And, surprisingly, the very middle-class women who hired them often supported their pursuit of legal protection.

Domestic workers did a gendered occupation, were mostly Black (at this time), and were not legally allowed to unionize. Despite that, they had a lot of success as organized laborers without mainstream union or Civil rights leadership support. They were gig workers before today's gig economy and their successes can teach us a lot if only their stories are told.

Further Reading [As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.]:

Household Workers Unite: The Untold Story of African American Women Who Built a Movement by Premilla Nadasen (https://amzn.to/3d5N86Z)

Music Credit

PeaceLoveSoul by Jeris (c) copyright 2012 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/VJ_Memes/35859 Ft: KungFu (KungFuFrijters)