Ai-jen Poo is the Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance and the Co-
teleSUR: As the domestic worker workforce is predominantly immigrant, women of color, with many of them being undocumented, how is your membership being affected by, or vulnerable to, the Trump administration's anti-immigrant, anti-worker policy agenda?
Ai-Jen Poo: Our members were already suffering — especially those who are undocumented — a tremendous amount. Separated from families for many years. Living in fear of deportation. What we have now in this new administration is an anti-immigrant civilian force emboldened by an anti-immigrant administration. There's heightened fear of raids in communities and workplaces. There's talk of cutting immigrant families off from services.
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Every way the administration can think of isolating and terrorizing immigrants, they are trying. This is emboldening citizens who are anti-immigrant. The hate crimes are increasing. I've heard numerous stories of domestic workers who have been harassed on the street, at their workplace, and on public transportation, being asked for their passport. The climate of hostility has increased exponentially. There will be lots of violence and terror that result from these policies.
How is the National Domestic Workers Alliance, NDWA, different from a union? Why did you choose to organize in this capacity?
The NDWA is a very untraditional workers organization. Partly out of necessity. What I mean by that is that in the 1930s, when the labor laws were enacted as part of the New Deal, there was one labor law that created the right to organize and form a union: the National Labor Relations Act. When that bill was being debated in Congress, some lawmakers refused to sign on if it included farm workers and domestic workers, who were largely African-American workers at the time. In a concession, the bill passed with those exclusions in place. For almost nine decades, this workforce has been excluded from forming a union and collective bargaining.
The way the workforce is structured, we are some of the most invisible workers in the economy since we are in private homes across the country. There's no registry. Oftentimes the workers are working in complete isolation. They're different from a factory or a restaurant. It's just you alone in a house somewhere. There's a tremendous amount of vulnerability the workers face. There's no collective and no one to bargain with. The people you're working with are not companies.
They are everyday homeowners who need help caring for their children or parents. It's a very different industry and workforce. But our organization provides a platform and resource for this workforce. We support their needs with training. We advocate for them to get the respect and recognition they deserve. We obligate their employers to ensure that their work conditions are dignified, respected, and protected. We provide a voice to workers like unions do, but our work is very different because of who we’re representing.
In a previous interview with NPR, you described our current era as being a "movement moment." Tell me more about what you mean by this.
I believe that our democracy has seen the most progress and strengthening as a result of social movements that have taken hold. There have been two movements in my mind that reshaped our democracy. The Labor Movement of the 1930’s and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950’s and 60’s. These movements put millions of everyday Americans in motion to achieve justice, dignity, and help our country realize its promise of democracy. Those movements started out very small in local communities around the country.
I believe that what we are seeing now is the activism that has been bubbling up for the last eight-to-ten years from the community, whether it's the Dreamers, or the fight to raise the minimum wage, or Black Lives Matter. These are movements that started in local communities and are capturing people's attention. Now with Trump and his government takeover, we’re seeing millions of everyday people taking action and standing up for our democracy. Just look at the first day of his administration. Millions came out to The Women's March, everywhere from Alaska to the southern tip of Florida.
They didn’t start out as activists. These are people like your family members, your hairdresser, people of all walks of life standing up for our democracy and its promise. This is one of the rare moments in history where the power of the people is showing. I'm hopeful that like the Civil Rights Movement and the Labor Movement it will have the effect of transforming our democracy for the better.
What was your organization's experience like at the Women's March?
We had about 300 domestic workers. Nannies and housecleaners from across the country who marched on Washington D.C. together. Almost 300 of us travelled to there to be part of the national march. It was an incredible experience. For many of them, it was the first time they participated in a march. They felt welcomed and empowered and like they were part of something historic.
It meant a lot for the immigrant women who came that millions of people are standing with them and that they are not alone. We are not alone. And as much as we may be fearful of the implications of the administration, we have each other, and that means a lot. When we look at the amount of people who marched and how people showed solidarity, it was incredibly powerful. Everyone left very hopeful and very empowered.
What role will your organization play in the mass movement rising up against Trump? What is your strategy with regards to electoral politics, and the Democratic Party in general, which many believe are part of the problem and helped create the conditions for the rise of Trump and a resurgent right wing in the country?
I think you're seeing women rise up around the country as leaders and as courageous risk takers at this moment. The way women are organizing and leading is very inclusive. They're bringing together people who care about climate change, healthcare, and violence against women — all of the issues elevated at the Women's March. Figuring out how we connect the constituencies so we can stand together and be more powerful together.
We’re supporting organizing at the local level. There are many immigrant rights groups at the local level that we’re helping. We’re forming immigrant defense committees so we can take care of each other. We’re pushing for states to become sanctuaries. Sanctuary states for us are not just for immigrants, but anyone and everyone who feels under threat by this administration.
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In Seattle, for example, we’re working with a group called Casa Latina to organize town hall meetings. There are lots of immigrants in Seattle and they are organizing neighborhood by neighborhood to make sure they know their resources, their rights, and can support each other as needs come up. We are trying to create more infrastructure to provide support and not be isolated at the local level.
We will continue to organize locally and do a lot of voter education and voter registration. Making sure every voter is ready to go next election cycle and know what's at stake. When it comes to the Democratic Party, our feeling is that every political party should be responding to the needs of all Americans. Every American, every citizen, should be a part of the agenda. In particular, the Democratic Party talks about inclusion and social justice. This is an opportunity to take a stand to defend our community and our democracy and really prove the power of the Party.
The 2018 election cycle will be very important. It will be our opportunity as women, as workers, as voters to take back our political system. From local school boards to county districts and governor races. There will be many important gubernatorial races for the Senate and the House. The Women's March demonstrated that we can see an election driven by a wave women voters community by community.
Ai-jen Poo is the Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance. She has been organizing immigrant women workers for over two decades.