from The Nation
"Word is out that President Obama will nominate Thomas Perez to head the Department of Labor today, the current assistant attorney general for civil rights. Perez has some bona fide progressive credentials, having cracked down on voting restrictions, police brutality, harassment against LGBT students and other issues at the Department of Justice, plus bringing a history of promoting immigration reform and labor rights. But one part of his history should give domestic workers heart and may take on even more meaning if he assumes this new role.
"In the early 2000s, Perez ran for Maryland’s Montgomery County Council and won, becoming the second person of color to ever be elected to that body. While there, one issue he pushed was a domestic workers bill of rights. While it didn’t pass until after he had left the council, the bill now requires those who employ domestic workers to care for their children to give workers a written contract that spells out wages and benefits and to obtain a written statement if a worker declines this offer, to provide live-in help with a separate room that has a lock to sleep in and to ensure “reasonable access” to a bathroom, the kitchen and laundry. The original bill had included a minimum wage of $10.50 an hour and mandatory paid vacation and health insurance, but these provisions were ultimately stripped from the bill. …"
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