For Immediate Release: 25 April, 2010
Contact: Tina Lee
Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD)
Ph: (66) 53 284527 │ Fax (66) 53 280847
tina@apwld.org│www.apwld.org
DOMESTIC WORKERS RIGHTS 124 YEARS OVERDUE
The first May Day in 1886 celebrated the successful struggle for an 8 hour work day. Today International Workers’ Day is celebrated throughout the world in recognition of the achievements of the global labour movement. For hundreds of millions of domestic workers however, decent working conditions are 124 years behind.
This International Workers Day, domestic workers in Asia urge their governments to support an International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention on Domestic Work. Together we must send the message that all workers, whether in a house or a factory, are workers deserving the same rights we fought to establish over a century ago.
For decades, the ILO has recognised the need for a specific convention for domestic workers, but to date has excluded what is the most vulnerable section of the working class. The primarily female and migrant workforce has long been denied decent work hours, fair wages, and regular rest days. In isolated homes, domestic workers are susceptible to forced labour and physical and sexual abuse with little or no channels for redress. On top of these human rights abuses, they are denied the recognition as workers and as such are deprived of the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining. “Without formal workplaces, we need protection the most but governments won’t protect us, and yet they deny us the right to organise to protect ourselves” expressed Eni Lestari, a migrant domestic worker from Indonesia, “because governments don’t consider us workers, they exclude us from legislation on statutory minimum wages and decent work hours.”
Moreover, due to the susceptibility of domestic workers to corrupt recruitment agencies and trafficking, a convention must address the rights of undocumented domestic workers abroad. “Labour and human rights abuses are regularly documented amongst migrant domestic workers” reports MAP (Migrant Assistance Programme), “however the constant threat of deportation and the reality of facing a non-responsive justice system keeps domestic workers from seeking justice.”
The new ILO Convention on Domestic Work will be proposed during the June, 2010 International Labour Conference in Geneva. In the spirit of International Workers Day, it is time to recognise all domestic workers as workers deserving the full and equal protection of the law. This June, it is time for governments, unions and businesses to support a specific legal instrument to protect domestic workers.
For further information please contact APWLD on behalf of United for Foreign Domestic Workers Rights (UFDWR).
APWLD is an independent, non-government, non-profit network of over 180 organisations and women committed to enabling women to use law as in instrument of change to achieve equality, justice, peace and development.
The UFDWRs core committee comprises five regional and international civil society organisations that work directly with domestic workers and domestic worker organisations in the Asia Pacific region. For further information on UFDWR please see attached pamphlet.
