FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 12, 2024
CONTACT: Daniela Perez, dperez@domesticworkers.org
In Case You Missed It (ICYMI):
National Domestic Workers Alliance Joins Care Workers in Celebrating White House Care Workers Recognition Month with President Biden and Congressional Leaders
The care workforce united with advocates, including congressional and Biden-Harris Administration champions, in the nation’s capital for a series of events. This collective action was a resounding call for affordable childcare, paid family and medical leave, access to aging and disability care, and good jobs for care workers.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA) – the leading voice for dignity and fairness for the millions of domestic workers in the care workforce – along with congressional champions and partner organizations, wrapped up a week-long series of events to mark the progress made by care advocates and care workers to increase public support for critical pillars of the national care agenda: affordable childcare, paid family and medical leave, access to aging and disability care, and good jobs with good pay for care workers.
Following the White House’s proclamation of April Care Workers Recognition Month for a second year and the Biden-Harris Administration’s announcement that April will also serve as a “Month of Action on Care” to make caring for families more affordable and accessible, the President took the stage on Tuesday and emphasized the Administration’s commitment to strengthening the nation’s care infrastructure.
Throughout the week, advocates were joined by President Joe Biden, Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su, and several lawmakers, including Senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Bob Casey, and Minority Whip Katherine Clarke, to discuss the critical need for Congress to take swift action to invest more in childcare, aging, and disability care, expand paid family and medical leave, and better support the care industry.
Notable Press Clips
The Hill: Biden touts support for care workers at DC event [Video]
UPI: President Biden Delivers Remarks on Care Economy in DC [Photos]
PBS News: A Brief But Spectacular take on valuing caregivers
April 9, 2024: Rally for Care with President Joe Biden
WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 09: President Joe Biden joins family caregivers, care workers, early childhood educators and advocates to celebrate progress made by care champions while calling for additional legislative action at a rally in Union Station on April 09, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Care Can’t Wait Action)
Getty’s Selected Images of the Rally
Getty’s Full Take of the Rally
Speaker Videos of Rally
On Tuesday, April 9, 2024, President Joe Biden joined the Care Can’t Wait Action coalition for a rally at Union Station to celebrate care champions, advocates, elected officials, families, early childhood educators, and care workers. Speakers, including advocates from the country’s largest labor unions and grassroots organizations, celebrated the progress made by the care champions within the Biden-Harris administration and Congress over the last four years while calling for additional legislative action in 2025.
Surrounded by care advocates, parents, family caregivers, early childhood educators and care workers, and other special guests, President Biden said, “We’re the only advanced economy in the world not to guarantee paid leave—we’re going to change that. No one should choose between caring for a parent who raised them as a child or the paycheck they need,” President Biden added. “Care workers are predominantly women as well, women of color and immigrants who are overworked, overlooked, and underpaid. It’s not enough just to praise them for all they’re doing—we have to pay them. I want to do more, and we can do more. My budget for next year makes key commitments to children, seniors, and people with disabilities and to caregivers who look after their loved ones.”
Crystal Crawford, NDWA Board Member and former nanny, introduced the President.
April 10, 2024: Day of Action with a Congressional Townhall and Several Meetings with Public Officials
WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 10: U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders attends the Care Can’t Wait Congressional Town Hall on April 10, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Shannon Finney/Getty Images for Care Can’t Wait Action)
Getty’s Images from the Town Hall
Getty’s Full Take at Town Hall
On Thursday, April 10, care workers and advocates from across the care economy joined a congressional town hall today at the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) headquarters with Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su, Senators Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Bob Casey Jr. (Penn.), and Bernie Sanders (Vt.) and Minority Whip Katherine Clark and members of the Care Can’t Wait Action coalition to hear about the personal stories of care workers and discussed solutions to support the care industry.
“We must make sure workers in that [health care] system, including the home health care workers, are earning a living, decent wage with good working conditions. You’re doing important work; you deserve that,” said Senator Sanders.
“We can afford universal childcare; we can afford care for our beloved seniors who want to be able to stay at home and who need help to be able to do that. We can afford care when a spouse falls ill or when someone is injured, and we can afford that care as a nation. In fact, here’s the point we have to make. Our caregivers are as important to our economy, as our steel workers, as our engineers, as everyone else who builds this economy. We need the care and we need to pay the care workers,” said Senator Warren.
WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 10: Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su holds a roundtable discussion on April 10, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by the National Domestic Workers Alliance)
Following the town hall, several care workers joined Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su for a roundtable discussion on the importance of raising standards for all domestic workers. Su emphasized that the sample agreements – announced as part of the White House 2023 Executive Order on care – for domestic workers are critical to ensure transparency between employers and workers. “We are in a moment in this country where we’re making historic investments in this nation’s infrastructure, in advanced manufacturing in clean energy, but you all know this, this is to transform the future of our country. And we cannot do all those things without similar investments in care,” said acting United States Secretary of Labor Julie Su.
WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 10: U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-7) holds a fireside chat with domestic workers on April 10, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by the National Domestic Workers Alliance)
In addition to the roundtable discussion with Acting Secretary Su, other domestic and care workers they joined Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-7) for a fireside chat on the Federal Domestic Worker Bill of Rights, which will be imminently re-introduced. Representative Jayapal heard from NDWA members like Dulce Tovar, a nanny from Texas, and Gale Johnson, a nanny from New York. They compared their experiences coming from a state without a Domestic Worker Bill of Rights (Texas) and a state with a Domestic Worker Bill of Rights (New York), emphasizing the need for a federal bill.
“This movement that you have built is so powerful. The work at the local level, the work at the state level, has given us some momentum to pass a Federal Domestic Worker Bill of Rights,” said Representative Jayapal.
Reflecting on the week, Ai-jen Poo, President of NDWA, said, “The care movement is unstoppable. In the twenty-five years that I have been organizing with domestic workers and caregivers, I have seen us make the impossible possible. Over and over. Together with our champions, we have brought care out of the shadows to the top of the economic agenda. We have ensured that care workers are recognized as essential workers. We have turned the crisis into a call to unity, a source of hope, and inspiration for action. Just one year ago, President Biden issued the most sweeping executive order in history, calling upon every federal agency to take action. Our collective actions are making a difference, and we know this is just the beginning of what is needed.”
April 11, 2024: White House Care Convening
The full convening can be found here.
On Thursday, April 11, the White House held a Care Convening with several care workers across the care economy. Neera Tanden, President Biden’s Domestic Policy Advisor, opened the convening and emphasized the importance of strengthening the nation’s care infrastructure. Human and Health Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and several NDWA members and care workers were also in attendance.
National Domestic Workers Alliance Inc. is a non-partisan 501(c)(3) charitable organization that does not endorse, support or oppose candidates for public office.
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About the Care Can’t Wait Action Coalition
Care Can’t Wait Action launched in 2023 to mobilize tens of millions of voters centering care as a winning issue for candidates this cycle, representing one of the largest coalitions of labor unions, advocacy organizations, and grassroots groups focused on care in history. supporting new investments in care by a wide margin, the coalition has pledged a $50 million investment in issue advocacy and electoral campaigning, the coalition is poised to mobilize tens of millions of voters in the upcoming 2024 election.
The Care Can’t Wait Action Coalition includes: ❖ AFL-CIO ❖ AFSCME ❖ American Federation of Teachers ❖ Be A Hero ❖ Care in Action ❖ Center for American Progress ❖ Child Care for Every Family Action ❖ Community Change Action ❖ Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy ❖ Family Values @ Work Action ❖ MomsRising Together ❖ National Partnership for Women & Families Action Fund ❖ National Women’s Law Center Action Fund ❖ Priorities USA Action ❖ Paid Leave for All Action ❖ Service Employees International Union ❖ Supermajority ❖ United Domestic Workers
National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA) is the leading voice for dignity and fairness for millions of domestic workers in the United States. Founded in 2007, NDWA works for respect, recognition and inclusion in labor protections for domestic workers, the majority of whom are immigrants and women of color. NDWA is powered by over 70 affiliate organizations and local chapters and by a growing membership base of nannies, house cleaners and care workers in over 20 states. Learn more at
www.domesticworkers.org. NDWA is a non-partisan non-profit organization that does not endorse, support, or oppose any candidates for public office.
