Landmark treaty protects household workers

With tens of thousands of Filipino maids being sent out to work abroad every year, the Philippines has hailed as “a great victory” for the country the adoption by the International Labor Organization (ILO) of a landmark treaty giving protection to domestic household workers all over the world.

The passage of the Domestic Workers Convention by the 100th International Labor Conference (ILC) in Geneva, Switzerland, was also a major victory for the Philippines as it was the main proponent of the treaty, Acting Labor Secretary Danilo Cruz told a news briefing Friday.

Cruz said the Philippines has been fighting for the past two years for the passage of a convention to protect domestic helpers working abroad. He said the convention would provide a “mantle of protection” for Filipino domestics working overseas.

“The promotion and protection of the rights and welfare of overseas Filipino workers has been a priority objective of the Philippine government,” noted Assistant Secretary Eduardo Malaya, the spokesperson of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

“Domestic household workers are among the most vulnerable to abuse and other risks. Having minimum standards to be observed by government will undoubtedly lead to improvements in their situation,” Malaya said.

The DFA urged all countries, both labor-sending and labor-receiving, to ratify the convention at the earliest opportunity so it can enter into force right away.

The ILC passed the treaty giving protection to an estimated 52.6 million domestic workers across the world on Thursday, with the Philippines and Uruguay having already said they would ratify the accord. According to ILO rules, the new convention would come into force after two countries have ratified it.

The new convention would ensure domestic workers enjoyed conditions “not less favorable” than other workers, and require governments to ensure they understood their rights, preferably through written contracts.

The document also offers domestic workers a full rest day every week, and prevents them being compelled to remain with an employer’s household during the annual leave or rest days.

The ILC is annually convened by the ILO, which is composed of 183 member-states, including the Philippines. The conference is attended by one delegate each from government, industry and trade union leaders from each country.

‘History being made’

The ILC committee that drafted the convention was headed by a Filipino, Hans Leo Cacdac, the undersecretary for labor relations at the Department of Labor.

“Social dialogue has found its reflection in the results achieved here,” Cacdac was quoted as saying as he concluded the discussions that led to the adoption of the treaty on Thursday.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, who led the Philippine delegation to the ongoing ILC in Geneva, said the treaty was a “breakthrough of great significance” and was “history being made.”

“We did not expect this convention and that our proposal would be accepted by almost all countries. The vote was overwhelming, with 396 in favor, only 16 against and 63 abstentions,” Cruz quoted Baldoz as saying.

Garry Martinez, chair of the Migrante International alliance of overseas Filipino workers, said the adoption of the convention was “just a small opening and the struggle to attain equal rights and protection for domestic workers still [has] a long way to go.”

He said the bigger challenge was how to push states to institute national legal frameworks to enforce the provisions of the convention.

Humane treatment a priority

Cacdac earlier emphasized that the convention should establish minimum standards that could help  end the abuse and exploitation of domestic workers.

“As a source country, [the Philippines] recognized the menace of illegal recruitment and trafficking, particularly of women and children, which placed migrant domestic workers at special risk,” he said.

For the Philippines, “one priority was to ensure humane treatment of migrant workers in their host countries,” he said.

The treaty defines domestic work as work performed in or for a household or households. It provides 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.

The ILO estimates the number of domestic workers to be around 53 million in 117 countries and territories.

“However, experts say due to the fact this kind of work is often hidden, the total number of domestic worker could be as high as 100 million,” Cruz said.

In developing countries, they make up at least 4 to 12 percent of wage employment. Around 83 percent of these workers are women or girls and many are migrant workers.

Most common complaints

According to the ILO, domestic workers are particularly vulnerable since they work in private homes but are largely excluded from labor and social protection. Ninety-five percent or more of domestic workers in Asia are in unprotected situation, it said.

The Philippine government officially refers to foreign-deployed Filipino domestics as household service workers (HSW).

According to Cruz, there are more than 710,000 HSWs in more than 50 countries, mostly in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Italy and Spain.

More than 100,000 of them work at any one time in the prosperous Chinese territory of Hong Kong alone.

About 71,000 Filipinos left to work as domestic helpers abroad in 2009, according to the latest labor department data available, including more than 69,000 women.

Migrante expects the treaty to have a huge impact on overseas Filipino maids’ working conditions.

“They are the most vulnerable, they work long hours, and earn less than other overseas Filipino workers,” Martinez said.

He said the most common complaints documented were of Filipino maids who left their jobs over alleged physical abuse, long working hours, sexual harassment and attempted or actual rapes.

There are an estimated nine million Filipinos working and living abroad, according to official statistics, and their remittances have traditionally kept the Philippine economy afloat. With a report from AFP