b'Thebiggestachievementwasprobably There are certainly people who choose to Theproblemisnotthattheremightbetheirattempttobringvalueand do this work because they love it, but there some fondness for or emotional connectionrecognition to this labor. Domestic workers are also people who see it as the best of tothenanny.Theproblemisthewere excluded from nearly all the key labor verylimitedoptions.Becauseofother expectationthatthefondnesstranslatesprotectionsinthe1930sminimumwage, barriers, they were unable to attend school into uncompensated or unreasonable work,socialsecurity,therighttoorganizeand or get the credentials they would like. So that if they truly cared for the family andbargaincollectively.Butbecauseof formanywomen,itisnotachoice,but the child, they would choose to work longerstruggle and organizing over the past 80 simplyasurvivalstrategy.Despitethat,I hours or go above and beyond the call ofyears, domestic workers have most of those think we have to make this a respected and duty. Geraldine Roberts said that althoughrightstoday.Domesticworkers,however, adequately paid occupation.her employer claimed she was one of thestill do not have the right to organize and family, she was not in the family will, and ifbargain collectively and are not protected WhendidCaucasianwomenbegin she got sick and was unable to work, sheby civil rights and OSHA laws, which apply enteringdomesticwork?Dowesee would no longer be considered one of thetoworkplaceswithmorethanten many Caucasian women as part of the family.Familyasatropehashistoricallyemployees. We have a long way to go for organizeddomesticworker been a site of comfort, safety, and security,fullandequaltreatmentandprotections movements? Why or why not? but also a site of exploitation, violence, andfor all domestic workers. abuse.Therefore,itisimportantnottoThere were always Caucasian women who romanticize the idea of family, especiallyWhatmadetheirmovements worked as domestics, but the numbers have whenusedbysomeonewhohaspowersuccessful? fluctuated. White women tended to move over you.Domesticworkhashistoricallybeen in and out of domestic work depending onconsidered an unorganizable occupation. thejobmarket.Attheturnofthe20th As a way to push back against the idea ofIthasbeenexcludedfrommostlabor century,withtheriseofindustrialization domesticworkasunskilledlabor,asunions and histories of the labor movement. andtheenormousexpansionofretail, volunteerlaborthatemanatesfromlove,Yet we know that domestic workers have manufacturing,andservicesectorjobs, domesticworkeractivistsalsosoughttoorganized. They couldnt organize the same manywhitewomenfleddomesticwork. professionalizetheoccupation.Theywayasotherworkers.Theycouldnt During the Great Depression in the 1930s, created certificate training programs andorganizeintheirplacesofemployment. wesawanincreasingnumberofwhite brokedowndomesticworkintomultipleTheydidntorganizestrikesbecausethey womenreturntodomesticworkbecause skill-basedareasofexpertise.Marycouldbeeasilyreplaced.Assingle other jobs simply werent available. Today, McClendon in Detroit, for example, createdemployees, forming a union was difficult, so domesticworkcanbealucrative categoriesofcook,geriatricaide,they developed innovative strategies. They occupation if you have certain credentials. childcarespecialist,householdmanager,demandedstate-basedprotections.They But numerous studies show that, even when andsoon,developingtrainingprogramsorganized in parks and playgrounds. They wetakeintoaccountexperienceand for each. Activists in the 1960s and 1970sshamed employers who mistreated workers. education, race matters when it comes to rejected the terms domestic worker andAnd, perhaps most importantly, they used wages. White domestic workers (immigrant maidandwantedtobeknownasstorytellingtobuildabase.Theyshared ornot)aregenerallyconsideredmore householdtechnicians.Infact,thetheir stories with other domestics who had marketable and draw higher salaries. nationalorganizationinthe1970swassimilar experiences. Geraldine Miller talked calledtheHouseholdTechniciansofabout domestic workers who were required I was really intrigued that in your book America.TheirmottowasPay,toscrubfloorsdownontheirhandsand you mention that employers started this professionalism, and respect. knees partly to convey to her constituents narrative of nanny as family to controlthatnooneshouldeverhavetoscrub workingconditions,establishand Withinthein-homechildcareindustry,floors on all fours. This was how they built a protect racial boundaries, and separate therehasbeenanongoingdivisionmovement. Their models of organizing are domestic work from labor. How did you between nannies who view themselvesrelevantforworkersinmanyindustries makethisconnection?Wasthis as childcare professionals and nanniestoday:Uberdrivers,contingentfaculty, intentionalorbyhappenstance?Many whoviewthemselvesasdomesticfood delivery workerspretty much anyone employersrefertotheirnanniesas workers. It has caused a bit of division.who is considered a gig worker or is self- families today. Do you think that today Do you have any insight into why this is?employed or an independent contractor. thatnarrativeisusedforthesame If so, how can we bridge the gap? purpose? Do you think the implicationsToday,manywomenchoosetoenter of being family are realized by nannies There are differences and divisions of race,domestic work. When did it become the and employers today?class,experience,credentials,language,case that being a domestic worker was andcitizenshipstatuswithinthenannya viable choice? The idea of a nanny as one of the family industry. There are very highly trained andhas a complicated history. For employers, well-paid nannies who likely have their pickThequestionofchoiceisaninteresting this may have been a kind of embrace that ofemployers.Theyarehirednotjusttoone. some employees viewed as recognition and mind children but to educate and impart aothers as suffocation. particular set of cultural and social skills,NannyMag.com7'