Long hours, dangerous chemicals: nail salon workers fight for industry change
Dolma Sherpa worked as a nail technician for four years in New York City, up until the Covid-19 pandemic shut down the industry and left her with severely reduced work hours when the industry reopened.
The work was already unstable, Sherpa explained, as she often worked seven days a week during busy times of the year, and then struggled to get hours and work through the winter.
In 2019, Sherpa and other workers organizing in the nail salon industry succeeded in their fight for a $15 minimum wage, eliminating the tipped minimum wage in the industry that was driving wages down, but she noted there are still many employers who aren’t following the law or have found other ways to cut corners at the expense of workers.
“They’re cutting tips, they’re cutting commissions. We don’t have control over schedules, they’re cutting our days, hours, and it’s not fair,” said Sherpa. “There are just so many ongoing challenges, despite what we’ve won in the past, whether it’s a lack of benefits, a lack of ventilation, health and safety issues, and retaliation.”
She is now an organizer with Adhikaar, a non-profit worker center organizing Nepali-speaking communities. It is also one of the groups currently advocating for a bill introduced this year in the New York senate and assembly that would create a nail salon industry council with powers to establish workplace standards throughout the industry in the state.
Sherpa argued nail salon workers deserve to be valued with fair wages, benefits and working conditions as professionals in other industries, as nail technicians undergo significant hours of training, courses and exams to obtain licenses to work in the industry.
“This campaign is a continuation of our work and a way for us to make sure that
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