National Domestic Workers Alliance and Care In Action
The National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA) is a 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2007 to organize and advocate on behalf of domestic workers like nannies, home care workers and maids. Care in Action is a closely associated 501(c)(4) that was founded in 2017 along with Care in Action PAC. Combined, these three separate but connected groups work to advance the interests of domestic workers in politics, policy and the private sector.
Why This Work is Important
Labor must be at the core of a successful progressive movement. To build governing majorities, progressives must build a strong labor movement. Organized workers play a crucial role in both helping Democrats win elections and in pressing for policy change. Moreover, work is one of the few experiences that nearly all Americans share, and bringing people together through their positions as workers is one of the most effective ways to build multiracial solidarity in a diverse and often divided nation.
Domestic workers need more attention and more power. Domestic workers are among the most vulnerable members of the U.S. labor force. Many aren’t covered by labor laws and work in isolating conditions in people’s homes. Further, many are undocumented immigrants, while those living on low wages have both little to no safety net and lack job security. Domestic workers are also disproportionately women and disproportionately nonwhite, meaning these discrepancies in their rights, wages and job security cause particular harm to women of color.
Why Donors Should Consider NDWA and Care in Action
NDWA has a record of success in organizing vulnerable workers. NDWA works to reach out to and educate domestic workers on their rights under state and federal law and how to advocate for themselves, and brings together workers who may otherwise be atomized and unaware of their potential strength in numbers. NDWA counts 70 grassroots chapters and affiliate organizations in 21 states and has built an online community of more than a quarter-million people.
NDWA has helped achieve policy changes that benefit domestic workers. At the core of NDWA’s work are efforts to extend basic labor rights to domestic workers, including wage and overtime protections, paid sick leave, and protection from harassment and discrimination. It has helped win such protections in a number of major states and cities, including New York, California, Virginia and Washington, D.C.
Care in Action turns out voters and supports progressive candidates. On the electoral side, Care in Action and Care in Action PAC work to identify and support candidates supportive of their policy aims. Care in Action offers endorsements and takes substantive action to support their candidates. Care in Action leverages its extensive network of organizations and members as both voters and volunteers. In 2020, for instance, the group contacted nearly 6 million voters and knocked on more than 1 million doors in the decisive Georgia senate race.
Conclusion
The National Domestic Workers Alliance is the leading organization working on behalf of domestic professionals in the United States, and Care in Action and Care in Action PAC have established themselves as an electoral force to be reckoned with. All three organizations have shown an impressive ability to organize and support America’s “invisible” workforce, a group that could prove to be the backbone of the next great labor movement.