International Women Count NetworkCrossroads Women’s Centre 230a Kentish Town Road, London NW5 2AB Tel: (020) 7482 2496/Fax: (020) 7209 4761 Email: allwomencount@crossroadswomen.net
1 August 2008
To whom it may concern:
We write in support of the important efforts of the Migrant Workers Club in Beijing, China, to win standard contracts and labour legislation protecting the rights of domestic workers. Domestic workers organisations which are part of our network have been pressing for such laws, and in a number of countries have won legislation or other protective measures. Where laws have been passed, there is mounting pressure for them to be implemented effectively. No government, and no women’s or labour organisation should accept domestic workers being excluded from basic employment rights such as the right to work safely and without assault or sexual harassment, a guaranteed fair payment, social security, fixed and fair hours of work, paid rest breaks and holidays, and time to care for their own children.
For your reference, we attach a report of what has already been achieved in Peru, in English and Chinese. Since that report was written, Peru has also declared 30 March to be a National Day of Domestic Workers, and has officially recognised their trade union. Many cases of unlawful dismissal and other employment rights violation are being fought and won in the courts, and also cases of rape and other violence by employers.
In Trinidad & Tobago, the National Union of Domestic Employees has won many cases of compensation for domestic workers whose rights had been violated. The National Union of Domestic Employees (NUDE) won remarkable legislation setting down Minimum Wages and Terms and Conditions of Service as early as 1982 which meant a minimum wage, a 44-hour work week; overtime rates for public holidays, maternity leave, and vacation leave etc. and in 1999, the right for domestic workers to bring minimum wage disputes to the Industrial Court.
In Spain domestic workers organisations across the country have come together to demand the same legal rights as other workers. A Bill for new laws negotiated with trade unions and the government was due to be passed in the spring of this year, however it was put aside just before the elections in March 2008. The socialist government is now back in power and they have promised to present this draft legislation again. Domestic workers organizations have protested the lack of resources for the care of children, older people and people with disabilities. It is women who are carrying out this essential caring work, and many of them are immigrant and do not have the official documents permitting them to live and work in Spain.
Also in Spain, the new Dependence Law enables people who are caring for elderly and/or disabled relatives to receive 91% of the minimum wage. Although this wage is much too low, it is a break-through in recognising caring work in the home. It means many domestic workers can receive an income for their first job – caring for their own family -- so they are not so dependent on other low waged work and do not have to do so many jobs.
In the USA: 1) In Montgomery County, State of Maryland, legislation has been passed requiring employers to negotiate a written employment contract spelling out working conditions for domestic workers. (See attached.) It aims to ensure that domestic workers, many of whom are immigrant women, receive fair wages, overtime and other protections – it is the first of its kind nationwide. 2) In the State of New York domestic workers are pushing for a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, with the support of the most important newspaper, the New York Times (see attached or http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/08opinion/08sun2.html).
We are aware that in every country domestic work is undervalued. It is done by some of the most vulnerable workers – usually women who have emigrated from the countryside (or another country) to the city, seeking a wage, often to support family members left behind. Domestic workers are heavily discriminated against, yet the work they do is skilled, vital, demanding and tiring work. It often includes caring for children, and people who are elderly, ill or have disabilities. As every woman knows, household jobs and caring for people require great care, understanding, patience and experience. But these skills are routinely underestimated since such work is often done by women in our own families for free. Like other women who work in the home, domestic workers create time for others – where would professionals be without domestic workers?
At the 1995 United Nations World Conference for Women in Beijing, governments agreed to measure women’s unwaged work and value its vital contribution to the economy (paragraphs 206 in particular and others such as 156, 160, 165 and 166 in the Beijing Platform for Action). The conference agreed that this work included “food production” and other farm work, “caring for children and older persons, preparing food for the family, protecting the environment and providing voluntary assistance to vulnerable and disadvantaged individuals and groups.” Trinidad & Tobago and Spain have won legislation to implement this UN decision. In paragraph 175(g) the Platform for Action also instructed member states to: “Adopt policies to extend or maintain the protection of labour laws and social security provision for those who do paid work in the home.” (our emphasis): 制订政策，以期推广或维持劳工法和社会保障规定对在家从事有酬工作的人的保护. As seen above, this too is being implemented in Spain, Trinidad & Tobago, Peru, and other countries. In Venezuela social security provision is being extended to women who do unpaid work in the home.
There is increasing recognition that caring work and the workers who do it – whether they are working in their own homes or employed in hospitals, schools, or in the homes of another family – should be valued. Venezuela has even enshrined this principle in their Constitution. Article 88 recognises that women’s work in the home produces added value, social welfare and wealth, and that housewives are entitled to social security. Some of the poorest housewives have been receiving 80% of the minimum wage. (http://www.analitica.com/bitblioteca/venezuela/constitucion_ingles.pdf)
We are also demanding pay equity between women and men internationally. We believe that undervaluing women’s caring work (both in our own homes and as domestic workers) is a major factor in keeping women’s wages lower than men’s. First of all, much of the waged work that women do is an extension of the unwaged work in the home, and our skills are not valued; second, even when we do the same job as men, we are expected to put up with whatever we can get because when we work at home we get nothing.
As wealth worldwide is increasingly polarised with some people becoming very rich while most others get poorer, we find that legislation and contracts are even more essential to prevent terrible injustices and injuries. We hope that China, where the Platform for Action was passed, will be one of the countries recognising the value of domestic work (waged and unwaged) and providing this basic protection to all workers. Please keep us informed.
Yours sincerely,
Solveig Francis and Ruth Hall International Women Count Network
IWCN is a network of organizations and individuals who support measuring and valuing unwaged work in every country’s national accounts, including satellite accounts of the GDP, and has Special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the UN.
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