Pennsylvania NDWA & NDWA-We Dream in Black Chapter

About the NDWA-We Dream in Black Pennsylvania Chapter

The Pennsylvania NDWA-We Dream in Black Chapter has been organizing domestic workers since 2018. In that time, we’ve won the Philadelphia Domestic Workers Bill of Rights and the Philadelphia City Hall Domestic Workers Standards and Implementation Task Force, the only worker-specific task force of its kind in city government. It includes three NDWA member leaders, the Department of Labor, two City Council members, and two employers.

We’ve also had countless meetings, events, and social gatherings where our members have been able to connect with each other, learn new skills, and lead our work together.

We have a strong multiracial, multilingual membership who work together to make sure that all domestic work is dignified and respected!

Our Impact

Together, we have accomplished so much! The Chapter has won:

We’ve won the Philadelphia Domestic Workers Bill of Rights!

We've won the Philadelphia City Hall Domestic Workers Standards and Implementation Task Force.

In 2019, we won a resolution to make June 16 officially recognized as International Domestic Worker Day in Philadelphia.

We organized and won the Mayoral Worker Relief Fund to provide financial support to workers excluded from state and federal COVID relief, and helped 500 domestic workers and their essential worker family members gain access to the COVID-19 vaccine.

As steering committee leaders in the Coalition to Respect Every Worker (CREW) labor enforcement coalition, we helped win a ballot initiative to create a permanent Philadelphia Department of Labor and organize to win an increase in the Department of Labor budget to be able to enforce all worker protection laws.

Join the Pennsylvania Chapter

Are you a nanny, caregiver, or housecleaner in Pennsylvania who believes you deserve dignity and respect on the job? Join our community!

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NDWA Pennsylvania Chapter

Activity in the Pennsylvania Chapter

In the Pennsylvania Chapter, we are making domestic work more just and dignified!

In August 2023, we celebrated our 5th anniversary as an NDWA chapter.
We hold bilingual membership meetings twice a month. We also hold labor enforcement clinics; new membership orientations; Know Your Rights trainings; healing spaces for members who lost family to COVID; and trainings on other topics that are important to our members, like evictions and utility shut offs.
We’re governed by an eight member domestic worker Steering Committee.
In March 2022:
- 20 members met with the Executive Director of the anti-discrimination department for the entire City of Philadelphia to discuss the enforcement of the anti-discrimination provision in the BOR
- Won 100 free COVID test kits from the Phila Department of Health for our membership
- Held membership meeting focused on portable benefits in conjunction with the Labs team
- Planning for big worker-led PPE distribution on Saturday
The Philadelphia Domestic Workers Bill of Rights went into effect on May 1, 2020. We are working to make sure the Bill of Rights is respected and enforced by employers and the City of Philadelphia.You can learn more about your rights here:

Spanish Resources

La Carta de Derechos de las Trabajadoras del Hogar de Filadelfia

Sample written contract for domestic workers (phila.gov)

English Resources

Philadelphia Domestic Workers Bill of Rights

Sample written contract for domestic workers (phila.gov)

Read more about our organizing and our members here: