Household Workers Unite

Posted on 25 February 2018 by Premilla Nadasen

Premilla Nadasen recounts in this powerful book a little known history of organizing among African American household workers She uses the stories of a handful of women to illuminate the broader politics of labor, organizing, race, and gender in late 20th century America At the crossroads of the emerging civil rights movement, a deindustrializing economy, a burgeoning women s movement, and increasing immigration, household worker activists, who were excluded from both labor rights and mainstream labor organizing, developed distinctive strategies for political mobilization and social change We learn about their complicated relationship with their employers, who were a source of much of their anguish, but, also, potentially important allies And equally important they articulated a profound challenge to unequal state policy Household Workers Unite offers a window into this occupation from a perspective that is rarely seen At a moment when the labor movement is in decline as capital increasingly treats workers as interchangeable or indispensable as the number of manufacturing jobs continues to dwindle and the number of service sector jobs expands as workers in industrialized countries find themselves in an precarious situation and struggle hard to make ends meet without state support or protection the lessons of domestic worker organizing recounted here might prove to be important than just a correction of the historical record The women in this book, as Nadasen demonstrates, were innovative labor organizers As a history of poor women workers, it shatters countless myths and assumptions about the labor movement and proposes a very different vision. Best Read [ Household Workers Unite ] by [ Premilla Nadasen ] For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr Household Workers Unite is a history of domestic worker organizing that can and should inform labor organizers who face new challenges in organizing people in the new labor markets created by the retreat from manufacturing and traditional forms of employment With the sharing economy or the gig economy the labor force is atomized in ways that resemble the challenges that faced household workers who faced a fardifficult challeng...Using the services of household workers is a long tradition in America In the early days, there were slaves in the South and servants in the North who cleaned, cooked, did laundry, shopped, took care of the babies, children, ill, and elderly, and prepared for guests After the slavery was ended, many families could not afford to hire all those people so the each of the remaining staff had to perform several duties. The situation changed greatly after Dr Benjamin Spock published his best sel Using the services of household workers is a long tradition in America In the early days, there were slaves in the South and servants in the North who cleaned, cooked, did laundry, shopped, took care of the babies, children, ill, and elderly, and prepared for guests After the slavery was ended, many families could not afford to hire all those people ...This was one of those books that covered a fascinating topic, but did so in a way that was anything but engaging The author could very well be writing a thesis paper, for all the dry phrasing she uses I can get through a lot of non fiction tomes, but I think this was the most difficult one to stick with Every 50 pages or so, I found a nugget that kept me going until the next one There was soooo much repetition, both of facts and of phrases Topics that took up 20 page chapters could have eas This was one of those books that covered a fascinating topic, but did so in a way that was anything but engaging The author could very well be writing a thesis paper, for all the dry phrasing she uses I can get through a lot of non fiction tomes, but I think this was the most difficult one to stick with Every 50 pages or so, I found a nugget that kept me going until the next one There was soooo much repetition, both of facts and of phrases Topics that t...I deeply appreciate this book Many unsung heroes to learn aboutThis is a meticulously researched scholarly work that recounts the history of domestic service in the US, especially how it was shaped by racial and gender discrimination A fabulous book for anyone interested in the intersection of race, class, and the role of women in society While it s attention to detail, with so many names and acronyms makes it easier to digest in sma...It s worth a read, especially for the introduction to less well known organizers like Dorothy Bolden and Carolyn Reed, and the creation of the Household Technicians of America And the book s thesis is worth consideration Household and domestic workers have been agitating for better conditions, pay, and respect like other workers in the U.S since at least the 1880s But because traditional labor organizers and unions didn t know how to apply their model to...Written well and throughly researchedBefore reading this book, I had a limited knowledge of current issues surrounding domestic workers I also also aware of the stereotypes of domestic work and workers in both the past and present in the United States, as I m sure most Americans are I had essentially no knowledge about the household workers movement described in this book, which is remarkable considering how many years th...I never really gave house cleaners too much thought I have had them in my family my mother and both of her sisters at times cleaned houses to supplement their incomes , and known some friends and even co workers work as cleaning ladies, but really never thought of them organizing for better wages or working conditions Those I know didn t, but they did keep an eye on the going rates It s a story that needed to be told and I am glad Premilla Nadasen researched and wrote it I like histories ab I never really gave house cleaners too much thought I have had them in my family my mother and both of her sisters at times cleaned houses to supplement their incomes , and known some friends and even co workers wo...I thought this was an extremely interesting book about the household workers movement led by Black women that I never existed It gave me so much new knowledge about household workers and the labor movement, at large A ...

English
25 February 2018

Premilla Nadasen