In a comfortable Manhattan neighborhood, a group of nannies erupted into the Saturday morning quiet demanding that the rights of one of their number be respected. They claim that her employer, a Belgian diplomat, owes her thousands of dollars in back pay.

Scores of nannies from the organization United Domestic Workers used bullhorns and drums to demand justice for domestic worker Marie Josee, an African nanny brought to the United States under contract by Rudi Brieven, Secretary of the Belgian Mission to the United Nations, to care for three children.

The nanny, from the Republic of Congo where she left six children whom she supports with her salary, worked for the diplomat and his family from August 2002 to May 2003, for 15 hours a day, seven days a week, earning less than the minimum wage of $5.15 established by the federal government.

“They provided her with no health benefits and never paid her overtime,” said Erline Brown, a member of the organization, in front of the building called The Morrison at 360 57th Street, where the diplomat lives.

According to the demonstrators’ allegations, Marie Josee’s ex-employer owes her $14,000 in back pay, but since he is a diplomat he is protected by immunity from penalties prescribed by state and federal laws.

The nannies’ organization has been fighting since July of this year, with no success at all, to make Brieven pay Josee.

A letter from New York City Councilwoman Gale A. Brewer has exhorted the ex-employer to comply with his labor contract with the nanny in spite of his “diplomatic immunity.”

The United Domestic Workers organization indicated that there are many nannies in New York who are exploited by diplomats who bring them from their countries under contract; the only solution, faced with diplomatic immunity, is to bring public pressure and the support of colleagues, as these women did yesterday.

“We want people to know who their neighbor is, who can afford to pay hundreds of dollars for a pair of shoes, but doesn’t want to pay what he owes to Marie Josee,” commented Brown.

At present the nanny is represented by a lawyer from the Center for Urban Justice, and the organization hopes to be able to sue the diplomat for the amount he owes to the worker. The organization has asked the assistance of the Belgian Consulate in demanding its employee comply with the laws of the United States, but the Consulate has not responded, according to the Center.

The Consulate was closed throughout the weekend, so this paper could obtain no comment from its representatives.