Two live-in caregivers announced that they have filed suits against their former employers to recover unpaid wages, overtime and other employment standards entitlements at a press conference Monday in the Queen's Park media studio.

Vivian said she worked 132 hours a week caring for an elderly woman with medical problems and her two adult children with developmental disabilities.

"I gave my life taking care of their family," said Vivian. "They kept adding to my job, more work, more hours, yet I was afraid of losing my job and I didn't know what the rules are."

A few weeks ago, Kumanan Thurairajah and Parvathy Thamboo approached the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) about organizing a union in their workplace. Last week they were fired, along with four other union supporters.  

Earlier, Thurairajah had spoken with members of UNITE HERE (the union representing workers at some of the hotels) who face many of the same challenges as laundry workers: low wages, heavy workload, and little job security.