The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the precarious employment situation of more than 2.5 million domestic workers in the country.
Six months of polls among members of this union conducted by the National Alliance of Domestic Workers illustrate the incredible challenges they now face.
By the end of March,
nine out of 10 domestic workers had lost their jobs
and although some recovered it later, it was in more precarious conditions.
In six months of the pandemic, 95% of domestic workers have not worked 40 hours a week and in more than 90% of these cases it was because their employer canceled them.
[The number of unemployed Hispanics in the United States is double that of Anglo-Saxons]
“It is a real nightmare to be without work,
” Clara Duarte said in an interview with Noticias Telemundo, a domestic worker in Chicago who lost her 10-year job as a babysitter due to the pandemic.
Their employers "did not want that walked on the bus or on the train and then came to care for the baby,
so
it was not possible".
Unlike other workers, most domestic workers do not have formal contracts to protect them from unjustified dismissal and do not have social security.
Three out of four received no compensation when they canceled their jobs
.
More than 90% of domestic workers are women, many of them immigrants of Hispanic origin and undocumented, according to statistics compiled by the nonprofit and nonpartisan
Economic Policy Institute.
[Trump promises there will be "a big economic aid package" after the election, but negotiations are at a standstill]
Despite the fact that work is essential for other jobs to be carried out, taking care of, for example, the children of essential workers during the pandemic, poverty affects them disproportionately:
23% live below the
poverty
line. poverty
, compared to 6.5% of workers overall.
“The unemployment rate and all these indicators normally under-represent domestic workers.
That means that they are not included in the calculations of most of the indicators that we have ”, said in an interview Paulina López of the National Alliance of Domestic Workers.
The data presented by this organization that promotes labor rights was obtained through weekly surveys among its members: more than 56,000 domestic workers have filled out 18-question questionnaires in 25 weeks between mid-March and October.
The organization representing domestic workers has asked legislators in Congress to take action on the matter and support an economic aid package for the coronavirus pandemic.
In particular, they have advocated for the passage in the Senate of the bill HEROES Act that was approved by the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives.
In addition to including a direct help check for $ 1,200 per person and $ 2,400 per couple, plus $ 500 for each child under 17, the legislation provides funds for family care and
assistance for undocumented immigrants
.
[Millions of Americans face an uncertain future without federal unemployment assistance and waiting for a new economic stimulus package]
Seventy-five percent of domestic workers who lost their job did not receive compensation and most did not apply for unemployment benefits, according to survey data.
"We are not prepared, neither economically nor emotionally, the pandemic is simply there and we have to have help from the Government," said Rufina Rodríguez, a domestic worker from Philadelphia who did not receive unemployment benefits after losing.
Noticias Telemundo correspondent Rubén Pereida contributed to this report.