Decent Work for Domestic Workers: All EU Members States should ratify ILO C189!

16 of June is the International Domestic Workers' Day: A day to celebrate the anniversary of the ILO Convention No 189 (ILO Convention concerning decent work for domestic workers) and to remind each and every government to ratify and implement it!
On this occasion, the European Network of Migrant Women (ENoMW) calls on the European Union to urgently strengthen efforts to guarantee equal rights and equal treatment of Migrant Domestic Workers and to ratify the ILO Convention 189.

In its statement that was signed by a wide range of CSOs including SOLIDAR, ENoMW brings the situation- and treatment of Domestic Workers within the European Union member states, as well as their contribution to European society to the attention of the European Union. Yet, so far only two EU member states, Italy and Germany, have ratified the Convention. According to ENoMW, “the delay in Member States signing and ratifying the Domestic Workers Convention is of urgent concern, and enforcing the Convention across the EU should be a priority in moving forward with securing decent work and social security for all domestic workers, and the overwhelming majority of migrant women among them”. Moreover, “access to rights and justice is not limited to documented migrants only, but is extended to all migrants employed in this sector, without exception and irrespective of their migration status”.

SOLIDAR supports ENoMW’s call as part of its work to raise awareness on domestic workers conditions in Europe and, together with the Global Network, in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Among SOLIDAR work see:

1. FOS (SOLIDAR Member) campaign for the Ratification of C189 by the Belgium

2. Briefing Paper, “Domestic Workers: From Modern-Day Slavery to Equal Rights”

3. Briefing Paper, “Decent Work for Domestic Workers in Kenya, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe”

4. Report from 2011 Domestic Workers Tour

For an overview of activities all around the world, visit the website of the International Domestic Workers Federation.

Photo (c) IDWF