Labor and Community Job Opportunities, Opportunities

National Domestic Workers Alliance / La Alianza Nacional de Trabajadores del Hogar Seeks Gig Economy Organizer (NYC)

The entrance of Silicon Valley and technology companies into the cleaning and care markets is presenting us with new opportunities to improve the rights, respect and dignity afforded to domestic workers. New tech companies that employ domestic workers are growing rapidly and becoming more common. NDWA seeks to build a base of workers, who use these new tech platforms, to improve job quality and conditions.

Position Summary:

The National Domestic Workers Alliance (www.domesticworkers.org) organizes domestic workers in the United States for respect, recognition and labor standards. We work to guarantee labor protections for domestic workers by winning legislation at the state level, pushing for changes at the national level, and elevating domestic workers as key leaders in building a powerful movement for social and global justice. The Alliance formed in 2007 at the US Social Forum and currently represents 54 affiliates in 18 states nationally.

Since its inception, NDWA has been an alliance of independent affiliate organizations. Several years ago, NDWA’s board and staff decided to create a new Membership Program that will allow domestic workers to join NDWA directly as members, and to recruit 200,000 individual workers who are not members of NDWA affiliates to join by the year 2020. The Membership Program is a strategy to address challenges of scale and sustainability, helping the domestic worker movement build the power necessary to successfully advance an ambitious agenda for social and economic justice.

NDWA is seeking a dedicated and visionary Gig Economy Organizer to lead NDWA’s efforts to organize domestic workers who obtain work through online platforms, including both marketplaces and on-demand platforms. The Organizer will contribute to NDWA’s growing understanding of the influence of the on-demand economy on our sector, will seize strategic opportunities to provide services and benefits to tech platform workers, will build a base of domestic workers employed through tech platforms, and will mobilize this base to take action both online and off. The Gig Economy Organizer will conduct experiments with contact cultivation, communication and engagement, and will track the effectiveness of organizing methods specific to this sector of the domestic worker workforce.

The Gig Economy Organizer will report to the Deputy Director and work closely with the Field, Campaign, and Social Innovation Teams.

Responsibilities:

  • Lead NDWA’s efforts to understand the working conditions of domestic workers who access jobs through online marketplaces and on-demand platforms, and to develop initiatives to improve these conditions.
  • Develop organizing and base-building strategies for workers on the on-demand platforms:
    • Build a list of contacts of workers
    • Experiment with tactics to identify and contact workers
    • Conduct interviews and 1-1s with workers
    • Experiment with tactics to engage workers
    • Experiment with structures and mechanisms to build a community of workers
  • Develop content for communication and engagement, including writing text messages, drafting emails, online petitions, online conversations and webinars, and other web-based copy targeted toward online platform workers.
  • Convert workers to join NDWA’s membership and engage them in NDWA’s work, both online and offline, contributing to the growth of NDWA’s membership base.
  • Take a lead role in NDWA’s relationships with care worker marketplaces, including researching services that NDWA can offer to workers on these platforms and coordinating the development of these services, as a way of base-building.
  • Identify membership benefits that could be of particular interest to domestic workers who access jobs via online platforms, and participate in the development of these benefits.
  • Document learnings on working conditions and organizing strategies.
  • Represent NDWA in related coalitions, conferences and key events.

Qualifications:

  • At least 5 years of related or comparable experience in national-level organizing, either on the ground or digital;
  • Tech savvy with deep understanding, experience, and familiarity with online and digital tools;
  • Understanding of issues facing low-wage workers, immigrant communities, and other communities of color;
  • Innovative, creative, and solution-oriented in approaching challenges;
  • Ability to analyze and synthesize;
  • Agreement and alignment with NDWA’s vision and values;
  • Excellent communication and organizational skills and attention to detail and well organized;
  • Ability to work independently, in partnership with an organizing team in a rapidly growing organization;
  • Dedication and ability to work flexible hours, including working some weekends and evenings and some travel (20%);
  • High-level of knowledge and proficiency with computer operations and programs;
  • Spanish/English bilingual preferred.

Women, People of Color, People with Disabilities and LGBTQ people strongly urged to apply. Applications will only be accepted electronically. Please email a cover letter, resume, and writing sample to jobs@domesticworkers.org. Please include a daytime phone number where we can contact you. This position will remain open until filled.