Three days a week Sofía Portillo uses public transport to go to work. She is an undocumented domestic worker who has been cleaning houses and apartments in Chicago independently for 28 years.
Portillo, 69, says that when she goes to work she meets many people who do the same work as her, both on the train and on the buses, and the first thing she is always telling them is not to be afraid, that The fact that they are undocumented does not prevent them from raising their voices, demanding their rights and reporting if they are victims of wage theft. “When employers hire us, they don’t care if we are undocumented or not, what they want is their job and they want it well.”
“Some employers are very good people, understanding and generous, but there are others who are abusive. As they hire us verbally they tell us what we have to clean, one does it and as time passes they demand more things from us, but the payment remains the same. And if you complain, they get angry, it makes them uncomfortable and then sometimes they even cancel their cleaning day, ”Portillo tells La Raza.
In order for domestic workers like Sofía Portillo to have a law that protects them from abusive employers, the Chicago City Council approved an ordinance on June 25 that grants these workers historical protections.
This new municipal law also expands the rights of workers in Chicago by protecting them against wage theft.
A 2010 University of Illinois study of unregulated work found that Chicago employers steal more than $ 1 million a day in wages from their workers, and the lowest paid workers are the most frequently affected by the loss. wage theft.
With this ordinance, employers in Chicago will not be able to pay less than the minimum wage to domestic workers, cleaning workers, babysitters and caregivers for the elderly or sick people, to name a few jobs.
Another great achievement, which these workers describe as historical, is that now employers must make a written contract when requesting their services.
Protections for all Chicago workers include expanding the ability to fine offending employers and revocation of licenses for companies that violate Chicago labor laws. The ordinance also allows workers to obtain wage theft claims more easily if their employers do not have the files or records in order and the number of paid sick days is extended.
For Portillo, the approval of this ordinance is a great triumph for domestic workers after years of fighting for their rights. “Cleaning workers have always been like the ugly ducklings of all workers, we are not given the importance of our work.” She is sure that the implementation of the ordinance will be something important for the workers: “imagine having a document that will protect you, that your rights will be respected.”
Shelly Ruzicka, Director of Communications and Development for Arise Chicago, said that it is a victory for Chicago workers for all the protections that were generally won through the ordinance, especially for domestic workers, since it is now going to be a requirement that all employers make you a written contract.
“If you have a union and you work for a large agency or, like Sofia, you are working on your own, all domestic workers have that right now,” explained Ruzicka. “This is something very symbolic and important for the workers’ struggle, let’s hope that this can be like a model for the whole country ”.
Passage of the ordinance comes as Chicago will raise the minimum wage on July 1 to $ 15 an hour.
No to wage theft
Silvia Portillo, who is not related to Sofía, currently works in a store where she has no problems with salary theft.
But the woman says that she and her husband were victims of salary theft in their old job in 2018. Both distributed newspapers, “the owner of the agency paid us little and made many undue discounts and according to his convenience,” she said.
This worker said that they were assisted by Arise Chicago. After a legal lawsuit that lasted more than a year, they won the case because they found that this employer was abusing his power with all his workers by unfairly discounting their wages, he explained.
With the protections that this new ordinance has for Chicago workers, Silvia Portillo thinks that many people will benefit and will be encouraged to speak up if they are the victim of wage theft. “No matter how big the company is or how small, the first thing that must be respect from owner to employee, respecting wages, fair benefits, paid sick days, with this ordinance everyone is going to leave benefited ”.
Arise Chicago, the Illinois Domestic Workers Coalition, Raise the Floor Alliance, Shriver Center on Poverty Law and Women Employed, among other allied organizations, were part of the Worker Protection Task Force that presented its recommendations to the Mayor’s office Lori Lightfoot to achieve better working conditions through this ordinance.
Most of the new protections will take effect on August 1, 2021. And the contract requirements for domestic workers on January 1, 2022, according to Arise Chicago who advocated with other allied organizations for the approval of the ordinance.
This new ordinance introduced to City Council by Mayor Lori Lightfoot was sponsored by District 10 Councilor Susan Sadlowski Garza and had the endorsement of other local councilors.
Sofía Portillo will continue cleaning houses and apartments because, being undocumented, she says that she does not have the right to receive any checks from the government, so “you have to keep giving to work,” she said.
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Editorial coverage of La Raza is made possible in part by the Chicago Community Trust, the Field Foundation of Illinois, and the Lenfest Institute for Journalism / Facebook Journalism Project. We appreciate your support of our journalistic work.
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