On a windy Friday morning at the Pier 5 picnic area in Brooklyn Bridge Park, Brooklyn Heights nannies came together to celebrate National Nanny Recognition Week and start organizing for better pay.
The gathering, one of two such events in the neighborhood last week, was organized by the Carroll Gardens Association (CGA), a longstanding nonprofit on Columbia Street pushing for domestic worker rights, affordable housing and other issues.
CGA’s member-led organization for nannies, the Carroll Gardens Nanny Association, offers legal support and workforce training such as child nutrition classes, newborn care training, negotiation workshops and resume reviews.
Last year, CGA organized a “Raise the Rate” campaign in Carroll Gardens. Now, it’s bringing that campaign to Brooklyn Heights and other neighborhoods.
The campaign aims to raise the base hourly rate for nannies to $30. “We’re building the confidence, building power, having a voice,” said Charon Best, a domestic neighborhood organizer with CGA who worked as a nanny for years. “It’s about coming together. Put your religion, your culture behind and just working together in unity.”
Best has been handing out surveys to nannies in the neighborhood to gather information on what issues matter most — contracts, negotiations, sick days — to help narrow the campaign’s focus. She said CGA is also working with Councilmember Lincoln Restler’s office on nannies’ concerns.
At the Friday event, several nannies spoke about the value of their work and the power of sticking together. “Nannying is more than a job,” said Christine, a Brooklyn Heights nanny who gave only her first name. “It’s a profession that requires skills, dedication, patience and care.”
“Our voices matter. Our work matters,” she said. “Together, let’s stand, because divided we fall and united we stand.”
The push comes in an industry with little built-in protection. Most nannies are women, many are immigrants and many are paid off the books, often without written contracts. That means many of them don’t earn Social Security credits for their work and can have trouble collecting unemployment if they lose their jobs.
According to the National Domestic Workers Alliance’s analysis of Census data, 94% of domestic workers in New York City are women and 78% were born outside the U.S.
In 2010, New York became the first state in the country to pass a Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights, extending protections that many domestic workers lack under federal law. The law guarantees nannies, house cleaners and caregivers overtime pay after 40 hours a week, or 44 for those who live with their employers, along with a weekly day of rest, three paid days off a year after their first year on the job and protection from harassment.
But the law doesn’t require employers to provide retirement benefits or severance, gaps organizers say leave longtime nannies vulnerable when a job ends.
“Many workers, they stay for such a long time working with families and I think they deserve at least the retirement or the severance payment,” said Rosemary Martinez, a domestic worker organizer with CGA.
“Imagine those workers who are earning $20 or $25 in New York City right now, you know, it’s so expensive,” she said. “They have to think about their future as well.”
The current political climate and a tight job market have made some nannies wary of speaking up, Martinez said. “They’re a little bit hesitant to get involved.”
For those who do get involved, the campaign can pay off.
Lina, a Boerum Hill nanny who gave only her first name, has more than 20 years of experience and has worked for the same family for six years. Until last year, she was paid less than the campaign’s $30 target. Through Raise the Rate, she negotiated a raise that brought her above it.
Before she found CGA, she said, she accepted whatever she was offered. “No, that’s good money for me, that’s good,” she recalled telling employers. “Before I met them, I didn’t know anything,” she said in Spanish. Now, she said, “I know my rights.”
“The employer is not the problem,” Lina added. “The problem is us.”
Several nannies said they work for families who pay them fairly. Heidi Theophilus, a Brooklyn Heights nanny for more than nine years, negotiated her pay when she started with a new family. She asked for $30 an hour and settled on $28, with yearly raises and overtime pay. “They’re really, really nice and my hours are amazing,” she said.
But not everyone speaks up. “A lot of nannies, they’ve been through situations where they cannot speak to their employer,” Theophilus said. “They feel scared, they feel like their employer is going to fire them, like they have no rights.”
“We all have rights in this country, no matter if you take a boat or a plane, if you don’t have a green card,” she said. “We all have equal rights.”
Heights Happenings
Several neighborhood events were rescheduled due to last weekend’s nor’easter:
The neighborhood open tag sale at Montague Open Streets will now take place on Oct. 4 from noon to 4 p.m.
Atlantic Antic was pushed to Oct. 4 from noon to 6 p.m.
Daybreaker’s Alive: NYC wellness festival will now take place from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Oct. 10 in Brooklyn Bridge Park.
The Wildlife Conservation Society’s STEM festival in Emily Warren Roebling Plaza was rescheduled to Oct. 3 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
It’ll be a busy Sunday for Brooklyn Heights pets! Here’s what’s happening on Oct. 4:
GTHR Yoga is hosting a free outdoor doggie yoga class outside their studio at 158 Montague St. from 12:15 to 1 p.m.
St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church will have a neighborhood Blessing of the Animals in front of the church at 157 Montague St. from 1 to 1:30 p.m.
Following the Blessing of the Animals, there will be a neighborhood dance party for pets and people, with music by DJ Del, from 1:30 to 3 p.m.
The Service Collective is hosting a pet supply donation station at Montague Open Streets from noon to 5 p.m. Donate new or gently used carriers and bedding and unopened pet food, or stop by the station to make a toy to donate. Donations will benefit Animal Care Centers of NYC, Sean Casey Animal Rescue and the Brooklyn Cat Cafe on Montague Street.
Spread Love Brooklyn and Team TLC NYC will be collecting new or gently used winter clothes at Montague Open Streets from noon to 5 p.m. on Oct. 4.
The Brooklyn Heights Association is looking for volunteers to help make sandwiches for the community fridge at 5 p.m. on Oct. 5 at the Zion German Evangelical Lutheran Church on Henry Street. Sign up here.
There will be a group gardening project in Brooklyn Bridge Park on Oct. 3 from 10 a.m. to noon. Advance sign up is required.
Aerin Beauty is teaming up with L’Appartement 4F on Oct. 2 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with a signature pistachio latte and a complimentary sample of Aerin’s Amber Musk Pistache fragrance.
“The Trivia Masters,” Chris Kelley and Stuart Post, are hosting a Brooklyn trivia night at the Center for Brooklyn History at 128 Pierrepont St. on Oct. 21 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
The TCS New York City Marathon Kids Kickoff is coming to Brooklyn Bridge Park on Oct. 24. Kids ages 8 to 18 can run an untimed half-mile at 9 a.m., and kids 2 to 11 who are new to running can join short dashes at 9:45 a.m. Registration is free, and every finisher gets a medal and a New Balance T-shirt while supplies last.
The first BQE virtual Q&A will be on Oct. 6 from 7 to 8 p.m. Register here.
Nearby News
Neighbors gathered at Sacred Hearts Church on Monday night for a community meeting on the Brooklyn Marine Terminal, the 122-acre waterfront site in Red Hook and the Columbia Street Waterfront District where EDC’s vision plan calls for new housing alongside maritime uses.
“I am not interested in giving public land to luxury real estate,” said Councilmember Alexa Avilés. On the current vision plan, she said: “This vision ain’t a vision. In fact, what it is is an utter lack of creativity.”
Maritime and freight experts on the panel argued the site should be treated as transportation infrastructure, not real estate. They pushed for moving more freight by water to take trucks off local streets.
What’s next: The draft environmental impact statement is still to come, with a public comment period once it’s released.
Tonight is the first-ever Dumbo Projection Walk, with more than a dozen outdoor projections on display in the neighborhood. There’s also a free guided tour of the projection walk starting at 6:30 p.m.
Satisfy New York is hosting a 10-mile run with Hudson Wilder at 142 Plymouth St. in Dumbo on Oct. 4, starting at 8:30 a.m
Face Time Beauty is hosting a “Tricks of the Trade” makeup masterclass at their studio at 220 Atlantic Ave. on Nov. 5.