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Worker in the city of Philadelphia have come out on the beginning of Philly City Council’s brand new term, which encourages for workers’ rights to rise to the precipice of the legislative agenda so far this year. Forty five workers has spoken on a singular basis with City Council members last week, wishing for legislators to sign on a pledge that will fight for workers’ rights in 2024.

Such an action, as led by the Pennsylvania chapter of the National Domestic Workers Alliance as well as the Hand in Hand: The Domestic Employers Network, the Philly Black Worker Project, The Community Legal Services and VietLead. All as this approaches after anti-retaliation legislation would come to be introduced by prime sponsor Councilmember Kendra Brooks in that term.

Guadalupe Canchola, known to be a domestic worker and organizer with Pennsylvania’s NDWA, ever since 208, where workers’ would chase that goal with brand new legislation and continue advocacy to keep strong the protections shown by the Philadelphia Domestic Worker Bill of Rights, which had been primarily established as it was passed in 2019.

Canchola believes some employers can be “aggressive” with domestic workers, while also refusing to pay and all at once stealing wages. Plenty of domestic workers, around 16,000, were women and immigrants, allowing them to be vulnerable to threats of retaliation all tied to immigration status.

Councilmember Mark Squilla is himself in the mood to go outside of City Council chambers, in order to ask for a pledge signing to protect workers in 2024.

Various Councilmembers such as Jeffrey Jay Jr., Nicholas O’Rourke, Rue Landau, Isaiah Thomas, Curtis Jones Jr., Kenyatta Johnson, Jamie Gauthier and Cindy Bass all had a hand in signing the pledge on Thursday.

Nicole Kligerman, director of the Pennsylvania NDWA herself mentioned that the pledges had been a first step in putting a stronghold on worker protections althroughout the city.