Update No. 7 - 100th ILC - Geneva, Switzerland

100th ILO annual Conference decides to bring an estimated 53 to 100 million domestic workers worldwide under the realm of labour standards

The government, worker and employer delegates at the 100th annual Conference of the International Labour Organization (ILO) on Thursday, 16 June adopted a historic set of international standards aimed at improving the working conditions of tens of millions of domestic workers worldwide.

Press release | June 16, 2011

GENEVA, (ILO News) – The government, worker and employer delegates at the 100th annual Conference of the International Labour Organization (ILO) on Thursday, 16 June adopted a historic set of international standards aimed at improving the working conditions of tens of millions of domestic workers worldwide.

“We are moving the standards system of the ILO into the informal economy for the first time, and this is a breakthrough of great significance,” said Juan Somavia, ILO Director-General. “History is being made.”

Conference delegates adopted the Convention concerning Decent Work for Domestic Workers (2011) by a vote of 396 to 16, with 63 abstentions and the accompanying Recommendation by a vote of 434 to 8, with 42 abstentions. The ILO is the only tripartite organization of the UN, and each of its 183 Member States is represented by two government delegates, and one employer and one worker delegate, with an independent vote.

The two standards will be the 189th Convention and the supplementing 201st Recommendation adopted by the Labour Organization since it was created in 1919. The Convention is an international treaty that is binding on Member States that ratify it, while the Recommendation provides more detailed guidance on how to apply the Convention.

The new ILO standards set out that domestic workers around the world who care for families and households, must have the same basic labour rights as those available to other workers: reasonable hours of work, weekly rest of at least 24 consecutive hours, a limit on in-kind payment, clear information on terms and conditions of employment, as well as respect for fundamental principles and rights at work including among others freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining.

Recent ILO estimates based on national surveys and/or censuses of 117 countries place the number of domestic workers at a minimum of 53 million, but experts say there could be 100 million in the world, considering that this kind of work is often hidden and unregistered. In developing countries, they make up at least 4 to 12 per cent of wage employment. Around 83 per cent of these workers are women or girls and many are migrant workers.

The Convention defines domestic work as work performed in or for a household or households. While the new instruments cover all domestic workers, they provide for special measures to protect those workers who, because of their young age or nationality or live-in status, may be exposed to additional risks relative to their peers, among others.

According to ILO proceedings, the new Convention will come into force after two countries have ratified it.

“Bringing the domestic workers into the fold of our values is a strong move, for them and for all workers who aspire to decent work, but it also has strong implications for migration and of course for gender equality,” Mr. Somavia said.

In the introductory text, the new Convention says that “domestic work continues to be undervalued and invisible and is mainly carried out by women and girls, many of whom are migrants or members of disadvantaged communities and who are particularly vulnerable to discrimination in respect of conditions of employment and work, and to other abuses of human rights.”

Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of UN Women, in her address to the Conference Committee, said that the deficit of decent work among domestic workers “can no longer be tolerated,” adding that UN Women would support the process of ratification and application of the new ILO instruments.

“We need effective and binding standards to provide decent work to our domestic workers, a clear framework to guide governments, employers and workers,” said Halimah Yacob, the Workers Vice-Chair from Singapore. She noted that the collective responsibility was to provide domestic workers with what they lacked most: recognition as workers; and respect and dignity as human beings.

Paul MacKay from New Zealand, the Employers Vice-Chair declared: “We all agree on the importance of bringing domestic work into the mainstream and responding to serious human rights concerns. All employers agree there are opportunities to do better by domestic workers and the households and families for whom they work”.

“Social dialogue has found its reflection in the results achieved here,” concluded the Chair of the Committee, Mr. H.L. Cacdac, Government delegate from the Philippines, when he closed the discussion.

“This is a truly major achievement,” said Manuela Tomei, Director of the ILO’s Conditions of Work and Employment Programme, calling the new standards “robust, yet flexible.” Ms. Tomei added that the new standards make clear that “domestic workers are neither servants nor ‘members of the family’, but workers. And after today they can no longer be considered second-class workers.”

The adoption of the new standards is the result of a decision taken in March 2008 by the ILO Governing Body to place the elaboration of an instrument on the agenda of the Conference. In 2010, the Conference held its first discussion and decided to proceed with the drafting of a Convention supplemented by a Recommendation adopted today.#

Click HERE to download the full text of the Convention

Click HERE to download the full text of the Recommendation

Source: www.ilo.org / ILO - Communication and Public Information

Photo courtesy of MIGRANTE Canada, a member organization of the International Migrants Alliance (IMA).

Update No. 6 - 100th ILC - Geneva, Switzerland

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON DOMESTIC WORKERS NOW AVAILABLE

The "Report of the Committee on Domestic Workers" is now available for download in the ILO website.

The report contains the detailed account of the whole proceedings as well as the final text of the proposed Convention and Recommendation to be presented to the plenary's voting on June 15-16.

You can get the copy of the report by clicking the link below:

Report of the Committee on Domestic Workers

Update No. 5 - 100th ILC - Geneva, Switzerland

DOMESTIC WORKERS' RIGHTS RECOGNIZED!

Adoption of the Convention on Decent Work for Domestic workers supported by Recommendation.

June 10, 2011

The deliberations for the Convention on Decent Work for Domestic Workers supported by Recommendation ended today with the adoption of Recommendation 1-23 at 12.15pm on 10 June 2011. Art 1-19 of the Convention was adopted at 9.15pm on 7 June 2011.

The length and intensity of discussions for the articles of the Convention is evident from the time taken, 1-7 June 2011 with sessions running late into the nights at 9.30pm and on one occasion at 10.00pm. The deliberation for the Recommendation took 3 days from 8-10 June 2011.

Most noted were the impressive attendances of the workers’ and civil society groups for all the sessions. When some employers and government officials opted to leave early during sessions, the workers’ and civil society groups soldiered on knowing that other civil society groups and domestic workers worldwide were keeping us in their thoughts and prayers.

Hans Cacdac (Deputy Minister of Labour, Philippines) Chairperson of the Domestic Workers Committee was at his element as he steered the discussions to bridge gaps that threatened to derail the process. His occasional witty remarks drew spontaneous laughter from House to lighten the intense mood.

Equally impressive were Halimah Yaacob, Vice Chairperson of the Workers' Group and Paul Mackay, Vice Chairperson for the Employers’ Group who exuded confidence in delivery of their statements. Their knowledge in the subject matter was evident!

During the opening statements, 23 governments and employers’ group showed tremendous support for a flexible yet principle based Convention which would be easily rectifiable and adopted at the national level.

With this is mind, the deliberations began!

Triumph moments of the workers’ group

After much debate, the workers’ group succeeded in strengthening domestic workers’ rights to collective bargaining and freedom of association contained in Art 3 of the Convention.

Another lengthy debate ensued on Art 6 where some governments attempted to dilute the right of the domestic worker to be informed of the terms and conditions in the employment contract. The workers’ group stood its ground with sound reasoning to sustain this right.

As expected there were lengthy debates on the hours of work and daily and weekly rest. Consensus was reached in Art 10 for a 24 consecutive rest hour on the EU governments’ proposal for weekly day offs to be accumulated after 2 weeks.

Although the Recommendation is not binding, the intense debate was maintained for the deliberations on Recommendation 1-23. Amongst others, the confidentiality of medical testing was maintained.

Young domestic workers below the age of 18 took centre stage as some governments attempted to weaken protection for this group. Again we triumphed!

History created!

As Hans Leo Cacdac brought his gavel down at 12.15 pm on 10 June 2011 announcing the adoption of the recommendation in its entirety, history was created! It marks a milestone for all civil society groups as we embrace domestic workers, one of the world’s most vulnerable workers of modern society, into the formal sector.

(NB: Voting for the Convention supplemented by a Recommendation will take place on 16 June 2011.)

Report by Mohammad Harun Rashid, Regional Coordinator for CARAM Asia, a regional network working on migration and health issues including of migrant domestic workers. CARAM Asia is a member of the UFDWR and of the International Migrants Alliance (IMA).

Video clip courtesy of Eman C. Villanueva, Vice Chairman for Filipino Migrant Workers' Union (FMWU) in Hong Kong and representative of UFDWR and the Asian Migrants' Coordinating Body (AMCB) to the 100th Session of ILC in Geneva, Switzerland.

The International Migrants Alliance (IMA) members attending the ILC are FMWU-AMCB, Migrante Canada members (Migrante BC and PINAY, Quebec), Tenaganita and CARAM Asia.

Update No. 4 - 100th ILC - Geneva, Switzerland

TEXT OF DOMESTIC WORKERS CONVENTION FINALLY ADOPTED BY THE COMMITTEE
June 7, 2011

“And so the Domestic Workers Convention in its entirety is hereby adopted, and so it is adopted”.

A loud and lengthy applause filled the room XVIII of the Palais des Nations after the chairman of the Committee on Domestic Workers hit the gavel and declared the adoption of the text of the historic convention on domestic workers.

After decades of struggle by domestic workers, their unions and associations, NGOs and advocates – the landmark convention that will recognize domestic work as work and where domestic workers should be treated no less than any other workers is now a reality.

Despite the repeated attempts of the representatives of the EU governments to dilute the text of the convention, the persistence of the workers and their effective lobbying and pressuring of their respective governments prevailed.

The EU’s proposed amendments became the major stumbling block up to the last minute of the tripartite committee deliberation on the text of the convention. Even governments gave strong remarks, particularly Australia, Brazil and the Africa group, on the repeated attempts of “members” (obviously referring to the EU) to dilute the convention and render it too weak to protect the rights of domestic workers.

As the committee adjourned for the day’s session, the workers start to sing with joy and happiness full of hope and determination to continue the struggle for the rights and dignity of the more than 100 million domestic workers all over the world.

Tomorrow, June 8, the committee will start its deliberation on the text of the recommendation. The final text of the convention and recommendation will be presented for voting at the ILC plenary on June 15-16.

“We are Workers, We are Not Slaves!”


Report by Eman C. Villanueva, Vice Chairperson of the Filipino Migrant Workers' Union (FMWU) in Hong Kong and the representative of the UFDWR and the Asian Migrants' Coordinating Body (AMCB) to the 100th ILC in Geneva.

Update No. 3 - 100th ILC - Geneva, Switzerland

EU, INDIA AND EMPLOYERS' ATTEMPTS TO WATER DOWN CONVENTION ALL FAILED

June 4 & 6, 2011

As the tripartite sessions of the Committee on Domestic Workers continue to deliberate on the proposed amendments on the draft text of the convention, several attempts were made by governments and employers to weaken the convention but all failed.

The first attempt was initiated by the European Union last Saturday, the 4th day of the 100th Session of the International Labour Conference and the 3rd day of the tripartite deliberation by the committee on domestic workers.

The EU submitted a proposal to delete the whole Article 6 including its sub-paragraphs which refer to the information that are to be given to the domestic workers preferably in a written contract.

Instead, the EU proposed to replace it with three sub-paragraphs which (1) gave blanket “flexibility” to employers by inserting the words “reasonable time” for notification of workers on the provisions of employment, (2) inserted an exclusion clause on the basis of very vague terms like “certain limited cases of employment relations” and “when it is justified on objective grounds”, and (3) removed all the clearly identified information that are required in notifying the workers (i.e. name and address of employer and worker, type of worked to be performed, remuneration, hours of work, period of contract, provisions of food and accommodation, terms of repatriation and terms concerning employment termination).

Except for India, this proposal failed to get the support of the governments and even the employers’ group.

After intense and lengthy debate, the EU was forced to withdraw the proposal. Along the way, the workers’ group even managed to insert another item to Article No. 6 on the “address of workplace or workplaces”.

The committee ended the day’s session by adopting articles 5 to 8 of the draft convention.

Today, June 6, the deliberations went terribly slow after the employers proposed to delete the Article No. 9 (1)(a) that refers to a provision allowing the domestic workers to freely negotiate whether to reside or not in the household of the employer.

Deliberation on this particular proposal almost took the whole morning session. Finally, a compromise was reached with minor reformulations that are acceptable to all parties but with the sense and intent of the sub-paragraph intact.

When the session resumed, it was again bogged down by an amendment again by the EU, this time suggesting replacing the whole text of Article No. 10 (1) with a reformulated version but inserted the words “shall promote, as far as possible” replacing “shall take measures to ensure” referring to normal hours of work, overtime compensation, periods of daily and weekly rest and paid annual leave which weakened the whole sub paragraph and making it essentially useless.

The proposal also added the terms “taking into account the special characteristics of domestic work” in the end of the paragraph making it open to unwarranted “flexibility” by governments at the expense of the workers’ rights.

To make the matter worst, the employer proposed to sub-amend the EU’s amendment by deleting “overtime compensation” triggering strong oppositions from the workers’ group and other sympathetic regional government blocks like the Africa group and the GRULAC (Latin America and Caribbean).

The committee chairman was forced to call for a recess and requested the vice chairs of workers and employers to approache his bench for a caucus. Meanwhile, government groupings used the time to hold their own caucuses while the workers’ approached their respective governments to lobby support for the workers’ group position.

When the session resumed, the EU agreed to remove the terms “shall promote, as far as possible” and replaced it with “take measures towards ensuring” which made the workers and other governments comfortable.

Before the session ended, India and the employers’ group again attempted to bring down the other two important provisions of Article No. 10 by proposing to delete sub-paragraphs nos. 2 (weekly rest of not less than 24 consecutive hours) and 3 (periods on which domestic workers are on standby be regarded as working hours).

Both proposals were rejected by the workers and failed to get the support of other governments. Article No. 10 was finally adopted with minor amendments.

Finally, the session for the day ended with the record-breaking adoption of Article No. 11 in just one minute after the workers’ group withdrew its amendment, the only one for this article.

The session was adjourned at 9:30 in the evening.#

Report by Eman C. Villanueva, Vice Chairperson of the Filipino Migrant Workers' Union (FMWU) in Hong Kong and the representative of the UFDWR and the Asian Migrants' Coordinating Body (AMCB) to the 100th ILC in Geneva.

Update No. 2 - 100th ILC - Geneva, Switzerland

COMMITTEE DELIBERATION AND ADOPTION OF PROPOSED AMENDMENTS - ILC 2011, DAY 3

June 3, 2011

The day started with the all workers meeting of the committee on domestic workers. This is the usual practice of the workers – to meet and consolidate the group’s position on each propose amendment so that the group’s spokesperson can articulate this during the tripartite deliberations.

Day 3 is particularly crucial as this is where the title and the preamble of the draft convention were discussed and subsequently adopted by the tripartite committee on domestic workers. Meanwhile, the committee has also adopted articles 1 to 4 with no major departure from the text of the “Blue Report”.

In so far as the title, preamble and articles that were agreed upon, we can say that the workers’ position has been getting relatively good support from the governments and in several instances, even from the employers’ group.

The fact that the tripartite deliberation generally speaking is a consensus building process where compromises on the part of all three parties are sometimes or oftentimes necessary, it is important to note that the workers’ group has yet to give any major compromise.

In fact, one major achievement of the workers’ group was the adoption by the tripartite committee of a workers’ group proposed amendment on Article No. 3 by adding another paragraph that further strengthens the clause on the rights of domestic workers (and employers of domestic workers) to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

While the exact proposal of the workers’ group did not get through, it successfully convinced the employers and the governments to accept the addition of the full text of the Article 2.b (combined into one paragraph) of the draft Recommendations as an additional paragraph under Article 3 of the draft Convention after a lengthy discussion.

The Chairman of the committee adjourned the tripartite session by 9:30 PM.

Tomorrow, June 4, the Committee on Domestic Workers will resume its session by 11:00 AM starting with the proposed amendments on Article 5 of the draft convention.

We hope that the workers’ initial gains will continue.

Report by Eman C. Villanueva, Vice Chairperson of the Filipino Migrant Workers' Union (FMWU) in Hong Kong and the representative of the UFDWR and the Asian Migrants' Coordinating Body (AMCB) to the 100th ILC in Geneva.

Update No. 1 - 100th ILC - Geneva, Switzerland

OPENING CEREMONY/DAY 1 AND DAY 2
June 1-2, 2011

The 100th International Labour Conference with the theme “Building a future with decent work” officially opened on Wednesday, 1 June 2011. Addressing some 3000 government, employer and worker delegates,ILO DG Juan Somavia emphasised on the new era of social justice.

Special guest, Finnish President Tarja Halonen cited the “absence of social justice” in the world, and said the ILO’s “values and policies are needed more than ever to create “a world with fewer tensions, greater fairness and strengthened security.”

In the afternoon, before the meeting on the Committee on Domestic Workers, the Workers’ Group met to discuss Art 1-9 of the Convention on Domestic Workers.

The Committee on Domestic Workers met at 3.30pm. Hans Cacdac, Deputy Minister of Labour, Philippines was elected unopposed as the Chairperson of the Domestic Workers Committee. Halimah Yaacob was elected as the Vice Chairperson of the Workers' Group and Paul Mackay was elected as the Vice Chairperson for the Employers’ Group.

Twenty-three Governments presented their preliminary statements where some expressed concerns of the descriptiveness and rigidity of the wordings of the Convention which would be difficult to implement in the national levels. (Malaysia was not amongst these governments)

It was most welcoming to hear Indonesia and Morocco who had not supported the Convention last year, change their positions to support the Convention.

On Thursday, 2 June 2011, the Workers’ Group met at 10-11 am to discuss Art 10-15 with emphasis on discrimination, young domestic workers and payment of wages in kind.

At the 11am session of the Committee on Domestic Workers, 5 Civil Society Groups (including 2 domestic workers) were given 20 minutes to present their statements on better protection for domestic workers. The employers made a positive statement favouring the Convention supported by a Recommendation. However, the employers were concerned that the Convention would not be meaningful if it is too flexible. This may result in major provisions for domestic workers being excluded from the international labour standards.

The Workers’ Group Chairperson concluded the session by stating that many governments have been motivated to establish/amend national legislations for the better protection of domestic workers. For example the UAE which has developed a model contract.

More updates tomorrow!!


Malaysian workers' representatives at the ILC 2011

Parimala N
Mohammad Harun Al Rashid
Glorene Das
Sumitha Shaanthinni Kishna

Photo courtesy of Eman C. Villanueva, UFDWR delegate to the ILC.

(2 June 2011, 3.45pm - Geneva, Switzerland)