After reading two oral histories of your choice and DataCenter's report, "Home is Where the Work Is," what strikes you about the importance of story to raise awareness around the social issues that are present all around us but that can so easily remain hidden? Think about how we choose not to see things that are difficult to see but regardless are constantly going on around us in the lives of others.
How did DataCenter create a compelling argument that actually led to policy changes to support the rights of Domestic Workers? List some examples with your ideas about whey this was effective.
Think about this in relation to one of the oral histories that you chose to read. Identify a specific social issue raised in this story. What other data, information, evidence might be researched and compiled to create awareness about this issue that could speak to a larger audience (similar to the DataCenter report). We're not asking you to do this research but to brainstorm potential directions that someone who wanted to support the cause could take.
The Domestic Workforce of America
ReplyDeleteSome of the stories from Underground America and DataCenter’s report “Home is Where the Work Is” really make a great point about how today’s immigrant population is being somewhat forced to work as slaves. These stories that we are reading for class aren’t just in a book, but they are right in front of our faces. After reading them, it is clear to see that most people overlook the issue for various reasons; maybe they don’t care, don’t want to spend their time on the situation, are prejudiced, etc. Now I probably won’t be the person to go out into the community on my own or to propose ideas to politicians about the situation, but I do see the need for that action and for change in the laws. Another problem is that many people do notice the problem, but they do not want to do anything about it or do not feel the need for something to change. When stories become more personal, they become more realistic, making others notice the severity of the situation.
DataCenter created an extensive report “Home is Where the Work Is” and it compiles statistics, facts, history, and personal stories to support immigrant workers and to change policies and laws to support these workers. Enrique’s story, although it is short, reminded me of many of the people I think of when I think of immigrant workers; an older, Hispanic male, who looks like he has been laboring his life away. However, Enrique points out that he still faces age discrimination and that most days, he doesn’t even get any work so it is very difficult for him to pay rent and to support his children. In contrast, DataCenter shows the life of “Carla”, a nanny, who constantly works long, strenuous hours all day for a family. Unlike “Carla”, Enrique waits all day for work, just standing on the street, and most days, not getting any work at all. Both of these situations are very stressful and tiresome, but in different ways. It is very sad to think that all these people are suffering and being so stressed out just from work. We are making it nearly impossible for people to survive in conditions like that of what immigrant workers have to live in. Just as Julia noticed, it would be very interesting if DataCenter compiled personal stories or data of children that are affected by being the children of immigrant workers. In addition, it would be interesting to see what more wealthy children think of their nannies. I think it is important to recognize how this entire situation could be affecting the children, too, because they are growing up in an environment and situation that should not be normal for them.
What I found to be very compelling in "Home is where the work is" was the personal stories. It is very hard to ignore these stories of workers in New York city, Manhattan, Long Island who are underpaid, abused, locked in basements, and not lied to about their work hours and pay rates. It is shocking to me that people take advantage of underprivileged populations to this extent. The bigger question I find myself asking is where/how/when did these people learn to treat people with such a lack of honesty, dignity? I cannot imagine treating someone as such in these stories or telling someone who graciously worked for me "I should have left you for dead...". These situations are ones that are ignored constantly, I have personal friends whom ignore these issues, their responses are sometimes "Oh that is sad...so what did you do today?" Umm hello did you just hear what I said or do you even care? People ignore these problems constantly, whether they do not want to accept them as a reality or if they feel they have no control over it so why bother, I am not sure. It is something that everyone needs to address and realize is surrounding us constantly. When the times comes that everyone cares, then things will and can change.
ReplyDeleteDataCenter successfully changed policies by their in depth report of personal stories which are incredibly moving, real statistics as well as reports from both sides of the story which is important. Their detailed report helped change things for migrant workers, and also shed light to the issues that are around all of us.
The story of El Mojado reminds me of the DataCenter report in the idea of when discusses the ideas of needing ID's to get jobs and paperwork. Also dealing with low wages of 6.50-7.50$ for 12 hour days with no overtime and no medical coverage as discovered in the report. At the very end of his story he says "who works the oranges? who works the construction? cleaning homes? who does that? Immigrants" (pg. 216). this is exactly what the DataCenter report discusses, undocumented workers typically do the jobs that most Americans do not want to do, and they keep the economy and world running. The DataCeter can collect more information on more areas of work than housekeepers/nannies by interviewing orange pickers, construction workers, field workers, etc and complaining the same data they collected for Home is where the work is. The other story that stood out to me was Enrique. His story was quite short, however all that he described was exactly what was found and explored in DataCenter report. He wakes up at 5am, only to work long hours and to arrive home with swollen feet. He takes the same bus (no car) to work an waits on the corner each day. there are days that he cannot make enough to survive, and eat. Similar problems that have been found in the DataCenter. Another way that there can be a collection of more data is by interview in the Chicago area as well as statistical evidence of their hours, pay ranges, job descriptions, and human rights.
Stories are more effective in conveying a message because when it’s just a report, it seems like a collection of statements that someone put together to shed light on a given topic; it just seems a lot easier to dismiss. When someone is telling you his or her story, it all of a sudden becomes more compelling. Knowing that the words are born of an actually reality rather than for the sake of story telling, it becomes more real because you know these experiences come from somewhere. For me, stories are easier to connect with and evoke emotion more genuinely. To be honest, when given a statistic about something, I acknowledge it, but it never lasts because at some point it just becomes a number. Although hearing every story would be next to impossible, even just one story can make the whole situation more real.
ReplyDeleteData Center created a compelling argument that led to policy changes to support the right of Domestic Workers by reporting information of those who were subjected to those unfair behaviors towards domestic workers. The research they did was thorough in showing the need for better working conditions for domestic workers by both showing statistics and including stories so that these people could be perceive as more than just another number. These statistics showed inconsistency and unfairness from overtime wages to hourly wages. In addition to the unfair wages, the conditions weren’t ideal. The short excerpt of the “Housekeeper and Nanny in Manhattan from the Philippines” shows a good, straight-to-the-point example of this unfairness. Working early in the morning, to late at night, seven days a week with a family she lived with, she was still cheated and treated unfairly, as she says, “My contract said I was supposed to be paid $400/week for 40 hours of work. Instead, I was paid $200, and worked more than a hundred hours a week, with no days off.” She worked for more than twice as long as she agreed to and still got paid half as much as she had originally hoped. Basically, for as much as she worked, she only got a fourth of the pay she should have received. Her story continues to show not only how she was overworked and undercompensated, but treated with little regard and respect. After so much work, placing a fork on the wrong side of the plate once was enough to anger her “boss”, a single misplaced fork.
I read the story of Julio from Kern County, California. Although short, his story said a lot of few words. The preface to his story explained that he worked in the fields in a small farming town. One day he is severely injured in an accident at his work and has to be hospitalized for two weeks. He hadn’t completely finished healing when he attempted to return to work, and when he arrived he was fired… for missing those two weeks. It seems insanely insensitive and wrong to take a job away from someway who was so dedicated and willing to return to work, despite the fact that the job is what injured him in the first place. In the case of injury, he should have been excused, but of course (sadly), since he was undocumented, he was treated unfairly. The rest of his story highlights his first of his eight times crossing the border, one that left him practically incapable of fear. Trekking through the desert for three weeks with less than enough food and water, he finally made it. Despite being lied to, abandoned, waking up next to a dead body with no one else to turn to, he made it across.
Trying to Make a Living Wage in the Domestic Workforce
ReplyDeleteReading Datacenters report was very alarming because it brought up many things that most people don't even realize. Undocumented workers in the United States are often treated like slaves, they work in grueling conditions and they still make less than a living wage. They are also expected to be thankful for the work even though they put their mental and physical health on the line just to fulfill their duties. What struck me the most about reading data centers report was that they compared the work that undocumented workers do, to what slavery was like before it was abolished. It was reported that thirty-three percent of workers experience physical or verbal abuse from their employers yet it still goes unreported because labour laws do not protect undocumented workers. In New York City alone 200,000 jobs are from undocumented domestic workers, they are often referred to as the invisible backbone of the economy. Many people in New York City depend on them for child care, elder care, and house care, and without them the economy would take a huge hit.
The main point that datacenter is trying to make is that people are treated as less then human, and this treatment is tolerated because they are not legal US citizens and have no laws to protect them. One of the examples used in datacenter was the daily schedule for Carla a live-out nannny in New York. Her day started at 5 am and ended at 11pm she was expected to work very hard for her employers family, but was given little time to spend with her own children. Most domestic workers also work overtime, but are never compensated for it. “Home is Where The Work Is” put into perspective the long and hard jobs that undocumented workers have to go through just to provide for themselves and their family.
One of the stories in Underground America that I read that illustrated what datacenter had to say was about Julio in Kern County, California. Julio had been deported seven times, yet each time he found a way back into America. While trying to get back to the United States Julio got lost in the desert for three weeks. He went with very little water and almost no food. All he wanted to do was work and provide for himself, but instead he nearly died. No person should have to live that way whether they are a legal or illegal immigrant.
Lauren Rocha
In an age of Information Overload stories provide a great way to cut through the clutter and make people think twice about different issues that can so easily remain hidden. As members of today's society we are constantly exposed to data, numbers, and information and as a result we have become numb to the numbers. What we haven't become numb to however is personal storytelling. This is probably due to the fact that when one hears a first hand account of a story we can often relate to the feelings and emotions that the individual is feeling in the story whereas we view data without emotion.
ReplyDeleteDatacenter capitalized on this by creating a compelling report that not only provided statistics but also related stories in order to put a "face" to those numbers. By pairing the numbers with individual stories they are able to to attack the issue from two sides while drawing on peoples emotions while providing them with the overwhelming statistics regarding the unfair conditions that domestic workers face even today.
I read the Story of Roberto from San Francisco which detailed the life of an undocumented worker and how difficult it can be. He discusses the numerous jobs he worked and the ways in which his employers would screw him in terms of wages. He also talks about the emotional aspects of being an undocumented worker as work becomes your life and he wishes that he had spent more time with his kids instead of working so much. He also highlights the fact that a lot of family are torn apart because people take advantage of these people like his lawyer did to him which resulted in his wife and children being deported.
I think that these are all very prominent issues in today's society but we choose to turn a blind eye to it. People complain that these illegal immigrants don't pay taxes and that they take jobs from Americans which is in fact not true. I strongly believe that illegal immigrants take jobs for wages that people wouldn't otherwise take. I think that if people were exposed to stories like Robero's in addition to favorable statistics in terms of revenue created by Illegal immigrants that they would sing a different tune. Unfortunately today's media tends to focus on the negatives of arguments and put a spin on it so that it creates the best story in the shortest amount of time. With this being said social media would prove to be an extremely powerful tool in the defense of illegal immigrants and the hardships that they face.
Liso’s story reminded me of Carla’s story from the DataCenter report. Liso was a live-in nanny, which meant that she had to be available any time of the day. If her employer decided for her to watch the kids overnight she had to do it. I know from first hand experience that taking care of kids is very draining, time consuming and lots of work. I’ve had to nanny for a whole day and I was ready to pass out by the nighttime. But reading the DataCenter makes you realize that lot of undocumented household workers get paid less than minimum wage. In that sense, I’m happy to know I am blessed to be here as a legal immigrant. But it also makes me so sad to think that there are so many hardworking people out there that are not being treated the way they should be treated. They should be treated with recognition because after all, they are the ones that have been raising your kids over the years.
ReplyDeleteThe DataCenter gave an overall picture of the real issues happening to these undocumented workers. The DataCenter gave descriptive and very accurate information that helped to make changes in the Rights of Domestic Workers.
It gave statistical analysis backed up with personal stories like Carla’s descriptive itinerary. The itinerary gives you an idea that she works a lot and has little time to herself. In Underground America, Liso has a very busy schedule with the kids she nannies, “the babies are up now at seven a.m., and I am busy all day until eight or nine at night”(Underground America, pg 91).
It was very shocking to see the statistics from DataCenter that 8% of workers earn less than 5.15 dollars per hour. (pg 2) Although that may seem like a small percentage, it is still a percentage of people that make nothing for a living. And an even more shocking discovery was through Abel’s story in Underground America. He got paid three dollars an hour for cutting grass and cleaning houses. What can you really do with three dollars? Nothing. Hypothetically speaking if he was to work ten hours a day; he would only be earning thirty dollars a day. How would he pay for rent, food and extra expenses for his family? People definetly take advantage of illegal immigrants and thanks to the DataCenter’s valuable there has been a reform in the Worker’s Rights.