CDSC has become involved in a very exciting and innovative collaboration with MA Coalition of Domestic Workers, comprised of member organizations who work with and advocate for nannies, housekeepers and personal care attendants. Together we just completed a 30 hour Mediation Training with 21 domestic workers and employers. The group was rich in cultural diversity as many of the trainees are bi-lingual in Portuguese and Spanish.This initiative will launch a new mediation program to address workplace disputes for domestic workers and employers, a first in Massachusetts and a model for the country.
This Phase One has been coordinated by the Brazilian Immigrant Center and Lydia Edwards, Director of Legal Services, with grant support from the Herman and Frieda Miller Foundation.
Phase Two of this project moves forward now, with support to CDSC from the JAMS Foundation.
CDSC is pleased to offer the mediation community a unique opportunity to explore Conflict and Culture. Mediators and disputants come from rich and varied cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Often disputants and mediators are not consciously aware that these backgrounds provide strong messages about a culturally perceived "right way" to fight and make up.
