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Founded in 2007, the National Domestic Workers Alliance is an advocacy organization promoting the rights of domestic workers in the United States. Made up of 4 local chapters and 63 affiliate organizations around the country, along with thousands of individual members, their work advocates for low-income laborers in the context of broader social justice issues, including immigration reform, domestic violence, and more recently the #Metoo movement and the COVID-19 pandemic. The NDWA advocates for a Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights, including overtime pay, one day off per week, and protection under state human rights laws. A version of this bill of rights was passed in New York in 2010 thanks to the NDWA’s advocacy, and similar legislation has recently been introduced in California. Alicia Garza, who co-founded the Black Lives Matter network, is the Director of Strategy and Partnerships at the National Domestic Workers Alliance.
Meryl Streep has been a vocal supporter of the NDWA since 2018. She invited the foundation’s director, Ai-jen Poo, to be her date at the 2018 Golden Globe Awards, the first spotlight on Hollywood after the Harvey Weinstein scandal and rise of #Metoo. In April of the same year, Streep spoke at their “Unstoppable event” – the same month, hundreds of domestic workers and farmworker women from around the country met on Capitol Hill to tell lawmakers that all women must be included in protections from sexual harassment and assault at work. And in 2020, during the novel Coronavirus pandemic, she joined their virtual “Tribute to Essential Workers” to celebrate the lives and work of essential workers.
