Domestic workers from around the globe gather in a united stand for equality

Venue: Community House

Over 200 advocates for the rights of domestic workers gathered in Cape Town from the 16th to 19th November, 2018, as the International Domestic Workers Federation (IDWF) celebrated its five year anniversary by convening its second Congress. Representatives from IDWF’s 69 affiliated organizations from 55 different countries came together to discuss the challenges facing domestic workers globally and consult on strategies and solutions, hoping to take inspiration from the achievements of the host country in ridding itself of apartheid and its fight for freedom of its oppressed.

South Africa is also home to IDWF’s President, Myrtle Witbooi, who has been involved in the struggle for domestic workers’ rights since the 60s under apartheid, when domestic workers had no legal recourse to protest their Masters. Now South Africa has some of the most progressive domestic worker laws in the global south, and the local organization is actively lobbying for more protections. The country has ratified the ILO Convention 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers. In October, the parliament expanded the COIDA, the occupational health and safety bill, to include all domestic workers. Witbooi says, “Our work is decent work, and our work makes all work possible.”

This Congress allowed the members of IDWF a rare and exciting opportunity to share knowledge, affirm their goals, develop their priorities, and make changes to their strategies where necessary. The key issues which were deliberated on included:

Addressing discrimination against domestic workers, especially those who are black, migrants and other minority communities;

1. Identifying the next target countries to ratify the C189 and legal reforms to protect domestic workers;
2. Developing a rights-based framework for domestic workers in the growing care economy; and
3. Strategizing to achieve a new international law to address gender-based violence against domestic workers. 

Furthermore, the representatives at the Congress voted on a new 13-member Executive Committee as well as several proposed changes to the constitution. Guest speakers came from the Labour Ministry of South Africa, the global organizations of International Union of Food Workers Associations (IUF), International Labour Organization (ILO) and Women In the Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO), as well as from local organizations, including the Congress of South African Trade Unions (CONSATU) and the South African Domestic Workers’ Union (SADSAWU).

Guests included representatives from groups interested in the rights of women, migrants, and workers, as well as academics and trade unionists. But it is the domestic workers who were the focus of Congress. As Witbooi says, “There is no difference between us, we all work for employers, we all suffer the same, we all understand low wages. We are workers and our work is decent work. And like we say: nothing for us, without us.”

One of the great achievements/outcomes of the 2nd IDWF Congress was the adoption of Childcare Resolution #4. The WIEGO Social Protection Team which includes Director- Laura Alfers, Deputy Director- Laura Moussie, Social Protection Officer- Cyrus Ashfar and Programme Support Manager- Sofia Trevino were instrumental in this process.

For more information, please visit www.idwfed.org or contact Ms Adriana Ramirez at adriana.paz@idwfed.org or Ms Myrtle Witbooi at myrtlewitbooi@gmail.com.

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