Trade unions and associations of household workers unite for domestic workers’ protection in law and practice

“Domestic workers are an important component of the workforce and of the economy. They have legitimate issues, needs and rights under existing laws and regulations,” stressed some 25 trade union leaders and advocates from some 20 unions and associations of household workers in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao who participated in the two-day National Trade Union Leaders Conference on Domestic Work last May 20-21, 2010, in Bacolod City.

The participants reflected on their experiences and validated decent work deficits in the employment, treatment of and servicing domestic workers. Using these actual and on-the-ground experiences, the participants improved the 2009 survey instrument which describes the conditions of life and work of domestic workers including working and living conditions, compensation and benefits, recruitment and training, documentation and repatriation and grievance and mechanisms.

“These decent work deficits (for domestic workers) are real, no doubt about it. That’s why we have the survey instrument to give life to anecdotes and common knowledge of what domestic workers go through everyday,” noted Susanita Tesiorna, President, Informal Sector Coalition of the Philippines.

The workshop also highlighted current and existing programs and interventions for domestic workers of trade unions, associations of household workers and governments.

A number of common interventions offered important insights on what constitutes an effective response to domestic workers protection in law and in practice: need for “needs” standard; need for protocol/mechanisms/institutions for servicing/integration of victims; mechanisms for effective response to complaints by domestic workers, by employers; need for career path guidance; advocacy to fill needs, and representation for domestic workers.

Decent wages for domestic workers

Mr. Cedric Bagtas, TUCP Deputy General Secretary and Labor Representative in the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) reported that TUCP wage petitions filed in March 2010 in the National Capital Region (NCR) and elsewhere ask the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards (RTWPBs) to include minimum wage rates for domestic workers in their Wage Orders.

“The last adjustment in their wages was in 1993 and the huge increases in prices of commodities since then have rendered current legislated wage rates inappropriate for needs of domestic workers,” noted Mr. Bagtas. “Also, TUCP, through its Party List, filed a bill asking Congress to devolve to RTWPBs the determination of adjustment in the minimum wage of domestic workers, to correct an ambiguity in the law,” Mr. Bagtas added.

The two-day program, sponsored by the International Trade Union Confederation-Asia Pacific (ITUC-AP) also discussed decent work, the Philippine Decent Work Country Agenda, ILO standards-setting and processes and the Philippine Workers’ Response to the ILO proposed instrument for domestic workers.

View the article at PIA website