Stomping Girl Wines Celebrates Women's History Month by Donating Proceeds to MUA!

Stomping Girl Wines is named in honor of Uzi’s independent and hardworking grandmother who grew grapes and made wine on the family property; for Uzi’s sister who was originally “employed” to stomp the grapes for the family wine; and for Kathryn, Lea and Hannah–our modern day Stomping Girls who stomp the grapes, punch the cap, press the wine and are involved in our family winery.  (read more about our history here) To honor and recognize these women and women everywhere, Stomping Girl is celebrating International Women’s Day this March 8th by donating 10% of our wine sales between now and March 8 to Mujeres Unidas y Activas.   To sweeten the deal, they are offering Free Shipping anywhere they ship in the US on orders of 2 bottles or more placed by March 8th.  Click here to order and use promo code: IWD.

Welcome MUA to our New Oakland Office

MUA invites our donors, allies, and members to visit our new Oakland office on Thursday, March 18, 2010 from 4:30-7 PM for and Open House and Donor Appreciation event. Light snacks and refreshments will be provided. We are so excited to share our new space with our community allies and donors. Come by and see us: 2783 East 12th Street, Suite 201, Oakland, CA 94601 (cross street is 29th Avenue). We are located 3 blocks from the Fruitvale BART and parking is available in the Safe Storage parking lot. Our entrance is on 12th Street. Please RSVP to Maria Carrillo at 510-261-3398.

MUA Madrinas Organize March 20th East Bay Fiesta

What better way to celebrate spring than at a March 20th E. Bay dance party with MUA Madrinas Amanda Berger, Rachel Morello-Frosch, Kathy Coll, Martha Wallner, and Stephanie Roth. Get ready to dance to the salsa, cumbia, old school funk, mowtown, and hip-hop beats of DJ Sandina (La Positiva) and DJ Yorquer. The event will also feature Peruvian food, dance lessons, dominoes, and poetry by Melissa Lozno.

When: Saturday, March 20th 7:30 PM to midnight

Where: 2216 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94710

Sliding Scale: $10-$25 and a cash bar featuring mojitos and margaritas

Kids are welcome and enter for free.

To RSVP or find out more information, please call: 510-599-8188 or 510-893-1386 or email aberger93@gmail.com.

MUA releases "Echoes from the Silence: Raising Our Voices"

On Wednesday, October 28, 2009 Mujeres Unidas y Activas (MUA) will release a new bilingual report, “Echoes from the Silence: Raising Our Voices,” that shares the results from a 2008 study conducted by MUA members to understand the experiences of Latina immigrant survivors of domestic violence in the Bay Area, explore the types of domestic violence services currently offered, and evaluate the barriers that impede Latina survivors from accessing these services. The report also offers recommendations on how to improve services for Latina immigrant survivors of family violence. To RSVP, request a hard copy or to schedule a presentation by MUA members and staff of the report's findings, please call Ariana at 415-621-8140.

Domestic Workers Organize to End an ‘Atmosphere of Violence’ on the Job

The women’s stories seemed to come from a backward country, or from a shameful time in the United States that many would sooner forget.

Yana Paskova for the New York Times

One woman, too scared to give her name, told of being struck by her employer in Bethesda, Md., as she scrubbed her hands raw polishing the floor. Another woman, Violet Anthony, who is 29 and from Mumbai, said her face became marbled with bruises after her employer in Queens slammed her into a wall and slapped her. Araceli Herrera said some of her employers inspected her bags before she left their homes and refused to drive her to or from the bus stop, a half-hour’s walk away. One employer, she said, fired her after she had a gallbladder operation and needed a month’s rest.

“With each job, I was exploited more. The thing is, the more you suffer, the harder it is to defend yourself,” said Ms. Herrera, 48, who trained to be an optometrist in her native Mexico and now works as a housekeeper in San Antonio. “We come from an atmosphere of violence, of blows, and we think we have to tolerate that.”

All three women were in Manhattan over the weekend for the first National Domestic Workers Congress, four days of workshops, meetings and a rally to demand rights for a work force that organizers describe as splintered, almost invisible, and staggeringly difficult to organize.

read more

Women's Work

New York Times- June 8, 2008- Editorial

Listening to domestic workers talk about their jobs can give a rude jolt to assumptions about social progress and the civility of the rich and upper middle class.

Herminia Serrat describes the “crude reality” of life for many nannies, housekeepers and caregivers for the elderly as a stoic struggle marked by long hours, meager or stolen wages, social isolation and a full range of unchecked employer abuses, from petty verbal harassment to physical and sexual assault. Araceli Herrera holds up a thumb scarred by caustic cleaning chemicals that eat through gloves and cause wounds that do not heal. Joycelyn Gill-Campbell tells of working while sick, unable to get time off, even with a doctor’s note.

read more

Announcing New National Domestic Worker Alliance

On Labor Day, over fifty Latina household workers and their families who are members of MUA, POWER and the Women’s Collective of the Day Labor Program of La Raza Centro Legal gathered in the San Francisco Mission District to celebrate their work and launch the new National Domestic Workers’ Alliance. The goals of this newly formed alliance are to work together to give public attention to the plight of household workers and at the same time improve the workplace conditions. Member organizations of this alliance represent grassroots organizations that work towards advancing the rights of household workers. Similar actions were held by the other ten member organizations located in Maryland, Los Angeles, and New York. The event was covered by Univision, Telemundo, KPFA, the Bay Guardian, and Sing Tao newspaper. For more information on the National Domestic Worker Alliance, visit www.nationaldomesticworkeralliance.org.

 

 

Research Finds Household Workers Earn Poverty Wages, Lack Access to Basic Health Care

Household workers work in private homes performing in-home child, patient, and elder care, housework, and cooking. The release of Behind Closed Doors, a report analysing the household work industry in California, shows workers are primarily female immigrants. While supporting their employers' homes and families, findings show household workers work in substandard and often exploitative conditions, earn poverty wages too low to support their own families, and lack access to basic health care. A participatory research project conducted by members of Mujeres Unidas y Activas and Day Labor Program Women's Collective of La Raza Centro Legal, and the DataCenter.

News coverage of MUA's Household Workers' Campaign: