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ILO Convention for Domestic Workers | Labor rights instead of nice words
Millions of domestic workers worldwide work without any protection. Europe must learn from pioneers like Uruguay. A comment.
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During feminist strikes like here in Spain, domestic workers fight against precarity and for full recognition under labor law. Photo: AFP/Pierre-Philippe Marcou The fact that, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO), over 80 percent of domestic workers worldwide work without a contract and without security is no coincidence - it is a component of an economic system that systematically devalues female paid work. For many people, domestic care work in particular is not seen as wage work, but rather as loving devotion that only deserves compensation for expenses.
The fact that the problems are particularly great in countries with enormous informal sectors should not obscure the fact that there are also huge gaps in justice here: people debate work-life balance, but cleaning and care are tacitly delegated to migrant workers. The millions of mostly informal workers have no opportunity to qualify or pay into health or pension insurance. The constitutional protection of privacy has been used as an excuse for years to categorically refuse work inspections behind the apartment door. This is systematic discrimination that leads directly to poverty in old age.
Governments must finally act here. State-sponsored service vouchers based on the French or Belgian model can create incentives for formal employment and simplify registration. But they are only useful if they are linked to good wages and full insurance coverage, instead of simply subsidizing cheap domestic workers. Uruguay shows what far-reaching progress can look like: with binding negotiations on wages and working conditions and a state-integrated care system.
When the ILO meets in Montevideo in November, the delegates will not only be allowed to adopt non-binding appeals. Private households must also finally be considered jobs with fair wages and social security.
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