“We were the invisible workforce”: Unionizing home care
June 1, 2007
The Sex of Class: Women Transforming American Labor – Cornell University Press
This chapter looks at how direct-care industries evolved from devalued, hidden services that mostly poor women of color were expected to perform into legitimate occupations subject to unionization and other protections. The caregiving relationship between direct-care workers and clients is examined as both essential for providing quality care and as an obstacle to collective bargaining that had to be overcome. Legal battles for recognition as workers, as well as numerous union organizing efforts, are recounted.
