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Today's book recommendation for Women's History Month is "Household Workers Unite: The Untold Story of African American Women Who Built a Movement" by Premilla Nadasen (2015).

The 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act established national minimum wage and the forty-hour workweek, and guaranteed workers the right to unionize. But unfortunately, the law specifically excluded domestic workers from its protections, a category of labor which was overwhelmingly made up of black women.

Domestic workers had a disadvantage compared to factory workers, in that they did not work together, but were isolated in the homes of their employers. Indignities and exploitation were common, and unionizing was difficult when the workplaces were so scattered.

This book tells the story of how black women domestic workers built a community despite these roadblocks, and insisted on the same labor protections enjoyed by other workers. They built their own organizations, from the Domestic Workers Union (DWU) in the 1930's to the National Domestic Workers Union of America (NDWUA) in the 1960's.

Between the 1950's and the 1970's, they defiantly overturned the old oppressive "Mammy" roles that had been imposed on them, and demonstrated the power in solidarity.

Link to copy of this book which may be borrowed from Internet Archive:

https://archive.org/details/householdworkers0000nada/mode/2up

Link to publisher's info about book:

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/250538/household-workers-unite-by-premilla-nadasen/