As our industry gains more recognition, the focus on employee rights will increase. Hopefully.
As Friday slid toward Saturday, four Brazilian women in identical black T-shirts hugged, giggled and blinked back tears in the otherwise sedate gallery of the Connecticut Senate. Their grinning lobbyist, Bobby Shea, shushed them, without conviction.Sen. Eric Coleman, D-Bloomfield, the co-chair of the Judiciary Committee, looked up from the Senate floor and raised a bottle of water in their direction, a silent toast. Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, laughed and gave them two thumbs up.On a night when nearly everyone else at the State Capitol was focused on the race to craft a budget deal before the adjournment deadline of midnight Wednesday, the Senate delivered the four women a political victory.On a 33 to 3 vote, the Senate passed and sent to the House a bill that would define an estimated 40,000 domestic workers in the state as employees, recognition denied 80 years ago with the passage of New Deal labor laws.The measure was a half-step, falling short of guaranteeing a minimum wage. But the recognition provided the right to complain of discrimination and mistreatment to the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities.Also ReadSession tally: Energy and environment hits, misses and almostsEnergy and environmental initiatives this legislative session were already heading toward half-a-loaf results before the budget impasse erupted. In the end there were big wins, big losses and everything in between.Op-ed: Domestic workers deserve this bill of rightsIn Bridgeport tomorrow, the Connecticut legislature’s Labor and Public Employees Committee will hear public testimony on an Act establishing a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights for Connecticut. We write today to voice our support for this act.For the four women, that meant a celebration.
Read More: Senate’s message for domestics, ‘You exist, by law’ | The CT Mirror