Immigrants rally at California Capitol for rights of domestic workers

Domestic workers are rallying to get better rights and protections.   - - Donna Poisl

By Stephen Magagnini

Neira Ortega said she left Oaxaca, Mexico, 15 years ago for a better life in California. She said she didn't realize she would end up a virtual prisoner in her employer's Chula Vista home.

"I had to go to work Sunday night and work until Friday night for $60 a week," Ortega said Monday at a Capitol rally. "I wasn't allowed to leave the house to buy my own food. I had to eat canned food. I couldn't go to take classes."

Ortega, 40, told her story to about 400 people, many of them domestic workers, who gathered at the Capitol to celebrate California's 16th annual Immigrant Day.
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