About 30 people gathered this week in Lakewood to offer ‘thanks’ to those employing cleaning ladies and other workers in their homes during “the High Holy Days”, and also called for “satisfying a local domestic worker “bill of rights” on the jobs,” Louis Kimmel, the Executive Director of New Labor told TLS.
The ‘Bill of rights’ lists 10 items, including “respect on the job”, “Right to food and water”, “A base minimum wage of $12/hour”, among other items.
“Six days per week, all year long, many women work cleaning houses (and more) in Lakewood. There is a lot of work, but unfortunately, there are not always good conditions,” the ‘bill of rights’ states. “They are women, not machines!”
But is $12/hour minimum wage a bit high?
One resident tells TLS he comes from a city where the prices for cleaning help got so out of hand, that the Rabbanim issued a letter stating nobody was to hire cleaning help for more than the going rate – which the Rabbanim set – and all in the community complied.
“The cleaning ladies knew, if they wanted a job, they can’t just decide on a price and keep going up, and use it to threaten us that they’ll quit,” the resident stated. “And it worked well.”
Another frustrated resident told TLS, “some of these women are making more than our daughters after coming home from seminary. It’s out of hand.”
The group, which appeared to consist mostly of Hispanic workers, reportedly marched from the amphitheatre on North Lake Drive to Red Square on Clifton Avenue.
[TLS-MK]
“Another frustrated resident told TLS, “some of these women are making more than our daughters after coming home from seminary. It’s out of hand.”
So then go out and clean other people’s toilets and see how little you will take for that work!
Most likely they’re not declaring the income for taxes, so $12/hour is a very generous salary. And if these are legal aliens or citizens, the homeowner is supposed to be withdrawing for social security, etc..
First our cleaning help gets water and food always. Always treated nicely etc. We don’t live in a perfect world and you will always have employers that don’t treat their employees fairly… All these Union type of groups are what destroyed the manufacturing power of the US. And reduced the available jobs.
Another point : are they also advocating that these domestic workers pay their fair share of taxes?
They deserve a living wage just like any other employee.
Let the “free market” set the rate for domestic help…
why do you need cleaning help? I work 6 days a week and i do not need cleaning help. Stay home and cleans your own houses, if 12.00 an hour is to much to pay. I have seen the cleaning people watch your Kids, clean your outside garbage cans etc. People be fair
they are making a lot more than minimum wage. let them earn degrees and pay taxes if they want more.
NJ min wage is $8.38 an hour. What they talking about?!?
If any of you don’t agree with what they want to earn: THAN CLEAN YOUR OWN HOUSE!!! Very simple! And I agree with G SAY on… Now if you have anything else to complain about call merry maids see how much they charge you to clean floors on their knees, clean stinky garbage cans, watch you children ect… Thankyou for your time, everyone have a great day.
cleaners, or any other workeers, for that matter, can ask for whatever they want. if no one will hire them at the rate they request, by natural law, they will lower their rates. no one is forcing you to pay for something you think is not worth it.
Some of them are illegals and even criminals, I think we should ID them and do a backgroundcheck before hiring them, they still do not deserve more than minimum wage, especially those that do a “Yotze tzu zein job”.
G SAYS, You might be a malach, however you are not the one to decide what other people need. My wife works very hard at her job and at home, and I think she is entitled to cleaning help.
Let them also not forget that less than 20 years ago, overwhelmingly, eastern Europeans were “employed” as cleaning ladies until recently when the current demographic undercut their wage demands and were willing to work the same for less. Market forces dictate that if they will start to demand higher wages, someone else looking for a job will undercut them.
You get me your green card I will pay you $12.00 per hour and you have to pay into NJ state & federal taxes..just because you can clean a house doesn’t mean you are worth that money..State Min Wage is $8.38 you get what you are worth
Go ahead. Let’s start paying them 12 on the books. (Meaning that they need ss number.) They will be getting less then they get now after taxes are deducted… thats for those that have a social security card!!!
Maybe the employees of some big public employers in Lakewood that get paid 10 an hour should also protest?!
If you want a job and protest your not gonna get very far. ……
Supply and demand will always prevail.
I worked for years in many jobs and I brought lunch and never got fed by my employers… just like millions of other employees… why do these guys demand to be fed is beyond me. It’s nice if someone offers them food but to demand it as a requirement?
I don’t think there’s a household in lakewood that ever witheld water from their cleaning ladies and the ones I know feed them as well and treat them with respect. 12 dollars an hour adds up and if you are looking to raise your earnings you need to work hard on getting an education and a ptoffesion. Nobody is paid for their sweat they are paid for their skills. It’s been like that since the beginning of time.
How many domestic workers pay taxes or claim this income when they apply for benefits. If they want more money, they should have to give social security numbers and be here legally. Yes, they should be treated with respect have basic rights, every employee deserves this.
the day laboroers downtown are just as bad. the ask for ridiculous wages and demand lunch.
I pay my cleaning help $12 an hour and serve her a great lunch every time. I tell her she can take whatever food or drink she wants. She does not do a good job at all. I have to bring food to my job if I’m hungry and if I did such a bad job, I would be out of a job. Yup! That’s supply and demand! Cleaning help is hard to find now so we have to put up with it or do it ourselves. That’s the reality right now.
I picked up some day laborers to paint a fence. I agreed with them on a price. When i got to the job, they asked for more money. I promptly brought them back and hired 2 other workers(who happened to be American)
If you don’t like the wages don’t work. If you agreed on the wages don’t complain.
I pay $25 per hour through a cleaning service and they do EXCELLENT work. All workers are US citizens and carry insurance, workman’s comp and pay wage and SS taxes. The people complaining here are doing this under the table employing illegals and cutting corners. You get what you pay for.
they are getting more then $12 an hour because they are getting free schooling for their kids at taxpayers expense