Mary Ann Koruth
NorthJersey.com
Lawmakers were in Newark Wednesday to announce a bill that provides rights and labor protections to New Jersey’s nearly 50,000 domestic workers – house cleaners, nannies, and health-caregivers who work in people’s homes.
Senator Richard J. Codey (D-NJ) and Rep. Britnee N. Timberlake, (D-NJ), representing Essex, Morris, and Passaic counties, addressed a 100-strong crowd of domestic workers who rallied outside Newark Penn Station to mark International Domestic Workers Day. The bill will be introduced in the senate within the next two weeks, said Codey.
The bill was championed by the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA), a nationwide advocacy group that led a grassroots coalition of local labor and immigrant organizations including Wind of the Spirit, Casa Freehold, Adhikaar and New Labor. Virgilio Aran, an organizer with the NDWA, called it a huge milestone in the social justice movement for workers’ rights in New Jersey, because it pr