DWU logo

We have a dream that one day, all work
will be valued equally.

Founded in 2000, Domestic Workers United [DWU] is an organization of Caribbean, Latina and African nannies, housekeepers, and elderly caregivers in New York, organizing for power, respect, fair labor standards and to help build a movement to end exploitation and oppression for all.

Programs
Nanny Training Program

A program offered in collaboration with Cornell Labor Programs, DWU's Nanny Training Program offers courses in infant/child CPR, basic pediatrics, child psychology, workplace injury prevention and communication and negotiation with employers. Graduates receive a certificate and CPR certification from the American Heart Association.

English as a Second Language for Domestic Workers

A program offered in collaboration with the YWCA Family Resource Center, DWU's ESL for Domestic Workers Course offers specialized English classes that integrate workplace literacy and communication with employers.

Basic Computer Literacy

A program offered in collaboration with the YWCA Family Resource Center, DWU's Basic Computer Literacy Course offers basic training in Microsoft Word and internet and web research, with a particular emphasis on useful skills for domestic workers, such as designing a resume.

Leadership Training Program

Our annual workers' leadership and organizing training program covers an introduction to organizing, theories of social change, basic political economy and the history of the domestic work industry in the US. The course spans 4 consecutive Saturdays. Graduates receive a certificate from Domestic Workers United.

Advanced Leadership Training Program

Graduates of the Leadership Training Program may register for the Advanced Leadership Training Program, to receive more in depth training in the theory and skills of organizing and social change.

History

Domestic Workers United was founded in 2000, by members of Kalayaan/Women Workers Project of CAAAV, in collaboration with Andolan Organizing South Asian Workers. Filipina domestic workers who are members of CAAAV's Women Workers Project began outreach to domestic workers from the Caribbean and Latin America in 1999, after having done two years of advocacy for individual domestic workers who were underpaid or abused by their employers, because they saw the need for industry standards and a voice for all domestic workers, particularly those who were not being organized. Early on, Andolan members and Women Workers Project members supported one another's work, and worked together to build DWU as collaborative project to build the power of the domestic workers movement. Today, DWU organizes workers from the Caribbean, Africa and Latin America, and coordinates with the other domestic workers organizations through the NY Domestic Workers Justice Coalition to build the power of the entire workforce.