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October 17, 2008
Nurture home-grown justice
Tzedek ba'bayit: How well are we treating our domestic workers?
MIRA SUCHAROV
Last summer, my children's nanny told me that her friend was being systematically exploited by her employer. Feeling that, as an employer of a domestic worker via the federal government's live-in caregiver program, I had a moral responsibility to root out injustices within that flawed framework – particularly for those with minimal power and resources – I invited that friend over. I helped her set up an e-mail account and post employment-wanted ads. At her request, for two weeks I monitored her account, screened and talked to prospective employers and was soon happy to hear that she had found a new job
I lack precise figures on this, but my casual observation reveals that Canada's Jewish homes boast a significant number of nannies working in them (which is not to say, sadly, that Canada's Jewish community is without members in financial distress – the Jewish Tribune has reported that 13 per cent of Canadian Jewish families live below the poverty line). How are we treating our domestic workers, upon whom we entrust the smooth workings of our households and the physical, emotional and intellectual well being of our children for many hours per day? Are we relating to our nannies respectfully, as employees rather than as pseudo-family members from whom favors are "expected" – and are we demanding similar respect toward them by our children? Are we taking our caregivers with us on family trips and expecting them to be on duty around the clock with the mental justification that they are "getting a vacation"? Most fundamentally, are our nannies being paid for the number of hours they work, and properly compensated according to Canadian labor laws?
The Canadian government has laid out a system by which live-in caregivers can apply for permanent residency following two years of job experience here. The frustrating reality is that it often takes two to three years following the 24 months of work to attain permanent residency, and several more years before a nanny is able to bring over her spouse and children. As Daniel Wood has reported in Vancouver magazine, nannies typically spend nine years away from their families.
It is incumbent upon those of us – Jewish or not – who employ live-in caregivers to take ethical and legal responsibility for treating them fairly. What business could ever demand that a worker put in a 14-hour day with only eight hours of pay? Or that its workers are required to live in, but their physical living conditions are never inspected for the presence of a separate bedroom with a door?
Economic justice – including that for immigrants – is a central concern of Jewish activists focused on tikkun olam who draw on the concept of pidyon sh'vuyim (redeeming of captives), as Dara Silverman of the New York-based Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ) has written. Most of us have immigration written into our family narratives and we should be – and hopefully are – morally cognizant of the economic and personal challenges involved in our live-in caregivers' attempts to forge a new life for themselves and their family, including, all too often, the lack of a collective voice – economically, culturally and politically.
Several years ago, my mother took on the role of family archivist and set about sourcing, copying and museum-quality framing her parents' travel documents from their journey from Russia following the First World War. Upon reflection, I realized that the enlarged passport photo of my then-infant Babba Marian in the arms of my Great-Babba Bebchuk now graces my daughter's dresser alongside a Dora the Explorer snow globe given to her last winter by – you guessed it – her nanny. It would seem bitter irony indeed if the legacy of immigration to this land of multicultural refuge that is Canada resulted in a cycle of exploitation of new arrivals by seasoned Canadians – of whatever religion or creed – who have never themselves been strangers in a strange land.
I hope to use this particular article to inaugurate a group committed to furthering fair-justice practices for live-in caregivers. Drawing on the concepts of "mindfulness" and "intention" within Jewish ritual practice, and the move toward corporate social responsibility now reflected in the private sphere, such a group would embody the Jewish principles of social justice and, most fundamentally, would include an employer's pledge to ensure just and legal living and working conditions for our nannies. No doubt, many – if not all – employers reading this are already adhering to just labor standards. If so, we can serve as a beacon. If not, we can improve our practices. Those interested should feel free to contact me at [email protected].
Mira Sucharov is an associate professor of political science at Carleton University.
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