Research Network for Domestic Worker Rights

Newsletter No. 6
DEC 2012
Workshop of the the RN-DWR Social Security Research Pro-
ject (Amsterdam, Dec. 2012, see under Research Activities)

Dear colleagues, interested in case-studies that can pro-

You are reading the sixth newsletter
of the Research Network for Domestic
Worker Rights, including information on
the implementation process of the ILO
Convention, campaigns, and news from
the world of research. Contributions for
the next newsletter are welcome.
1. Call for Papers/
Participation
Call for Paper and Workshop: Trade
Unions and Cooperatives: Challenges
and Perspectives, Special Issue of
the International Journal of Labour
Research, Bureau for Workers Activi-
ties and EMP/COOP, ILO.
The papers would ideally show how
trade unions have been using the co-
operative model and working with the
cooperative movement to achieve eco-
nomic, social and political objectives.
This call for papers is thus particularly
vide lessons for trade union practioners
and co-operators internationally.
Papers should be no more than 7,000
words, excluding tables and references.
Proposals will be received until Feb. 2,
2013. Authors of the papers selected
will be invited to present them at a
workshop to be held in Geneva in May
2013 for eventual publication in the fall.
For more information/submission con-
tact laliberte@ilo.org.
Photo Competition Promoting the
Integration of Migrant Domestic
Workers in Europe (IMDW)
While migrant domestic workers
are often invisible in the workplace and
might have to deal with many decent
work deficits, but they are also impor-
tant and essential contributors to the
economic development in a country.
Ignoring their potential as workers is
an economic waste. To bring public
awareness and positive attention to the
integration of migrant domestic work-
Content
1. Call for papers/
Participation
2. Publications
3. Updates on the Con-
vention and Campaign
News
4. Research Activities
5. Conference Reports
6. IDWN News
The Newsletter includes contri-
butions from Manuel Abrantes,
Asmaou Bah, Eileen Boris, Lin-
da Burnham, Janie Chuang, Dan
Gallin, Maria Galotti, Claire
Hobden, Sr. lissy Joseph, Maren
Kirchoff, Sabrina Marchetti,
Jesse Mertens, Cliodhna Murphy,
Karin Pape, Helen Schwenken, Ao-
ife Smith, Marie-Jos Tayah, Eva
Valentov, Nisha Varia, Sarah
Van Walsum
Photographs: Eileen Boris, Maren
Kirchhoff

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 Research Network for Domestic Worker Rights
ers in their host countries, the Interna-
tional Migration Programme of the ILO
is organising a photo competition with
the theme Promoting the Integra-
tion of Migrant Domestic Workers in
Europe. The aim of this competition
is to generate awareness of the chal-
lenges migrant domestic workers face
in finding fair and fulfilling work, while
at the same time making visible their
resilience, innovation, and intrinsic
value to the societies they live in. The
photo competition will be publicly
launched in Jan. 2013 and is open to
everyone above the age of 16 residing
in Europe. More details on the Terms
and Conditions will be announced
shortly through the ILO website. For fur-
ther questions or if you can help spread
the word, please contact Maria Gallotti
(gallotti[at]ilo.org) or Jesse Mertens
(j.mertens[at]gmail.org).
2. Publications
Abrantes, Manuel (2012), Youre not
there to make the world any cleaner:
domestic services and knowledge soci-
eties, European Societies 14 (3): 320-37.
This article documents the latest
uprise of domestic work as a topic of in-
terest in labour sociology, gender stud-
ies, and neighbouring areas. It argues
that analysis should comprehend the
link between the position of in-house
services at the lower end of work value
hierarchies and the political dynamics
of knowledge societies, which requires
attention to the role of mentality and
ideology in mediating everyday interac-
tion. Ethnic change, the singularity of
private households as workplaces and
the ambiguous bond between skill and
emotional labour are addressed.
Basa, C., de Guzman, V. & Marchetti,
S. (2012). International migration and
over-indebtedness: the case of Filipino
workers in Italy. http://www.filipinowo-
menscouncil.org/files/international_mi-
gration_overindebtedness_filipino_
workers_italy.pdf
Becker, Jo (2012). Campaigning for
Justice: Human Rights Advocacy in
Practice. Stanford University Press.
This book outlines some of the most
innovative human rights campaigns of
recent years. There is a chapter about
organizing for decent work for domes-
tic workers. It features national-level
efforts in the Philippines and Tanzania
and the organizing for C189. It also in-
cludes interviews with Myrtle Witbooi,
IDWN Chair and Vicky Kanyoka, IDWN
Africa Regional Coordinator, to discuss
the work of IDWN.
Chuang, J. (2013 - Forthcoming). The
U.S. Au Pair Program: Labor Exploita-
tion and the Myth of Cultural Exchange.
Harvard Journal of Law & Gender, Vol.
36, 2013.
The article exposes how the legal
categorization of au pairs as cultural
exchange participants is strategically
used to sustain and disguise a
government-created domestic worker
program to provide flexible, in-home
childcare for upper-middle-class fami-
lies at below-market prices. The cultural
exchange subterfuge has created an
underclass of migrant domestic workers
conceptually and structurally removed
from the application of labor standards
and the scrutiny of labor institutions.
Janie Chuang welcomes comments
on the manuscript: http://papers.
ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_
id=2163595
Feeney, L. (2012, Dec. 7). Inside the
Invisible World of Domestic Work: An
Interview With Ai-jen Poo. Truthout.
http://truth-out.org/news/item/13206-
inside-the-invisible-world-of-domestic-
work-an-interview-with-ai-jen-poo#.
UMOB7El7kgg.email
HRW (2012). Lonely Servitude: Child
Domestic Labor in Morocco. http://
www.hrw.org/reports/2012/11/15/
lonely-servitude
This 73-page report found that
some child domestic workers who are
overwhelmingly girls toil for 12 hours
a day, 7 days a week, for as little as
US$11 a month. Some girls told Human
Rights Watch that their employers fre-
quently beat and verbally abused them,
denied them education, and sometimes
refused them adequate food.
ILO (2012). Working with Migrant Do-
mestic Workers in Lebanon (1980-2012):
A mapping of NGO services. http://
www.ilo.org/public/english/region/
arpro/beirut/downloads/events/2012/
prowd_2012/report.pdf
Varia, N. (2012). A victory against mod-
ern day slavery. OpenDemocracy 50/50.
http://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/
nisha-varia/victory-against-modern-
day-slavery
Wang, J. (2012). Just Employers: Park
Slope Parents Advocate for Domestic
Workers Rights. AFL-CIO. http://www.
aflcio.org/Features/In-Our-Communi-
ties/Just-Employers-Park-Slope-Parents-
Advocate-for-Domestic-Workers-Rights
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 Research Network for Domestic Worker Rights

3. Updates on the
Convention and Cam-
paign News
On the occasion of International
Migrants Day the ILO would like to
highlight the positive contributions
migrant domestic workers have made
and continue to make to the European
societies they live and work in.
To celebrate positive developments in
this field, the ILO, with the support of
the EU, has released the following two
videos showcasing the importance of
recognizing the work and the rights of
migrant domestic workers, in theirs and
their employers words.
You are invited to disseminate these
videos to a broad audience
http://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-
ilo/multimedia/video/public-service-
announcements/WCMS_195845/lang--
en/index.htm
http://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-
ilo/multimedia/video/public-service-
announcements/WCMS_195846/lang--
en/index.htm
The Czech Republic did not ratified
the ILO Convention of decent work for
domestic workers C 189 based on the
findings of the Czech government that
there were (officially) only 49 foreign
domestic workers in the Czech Republic
considering thus the phenomenon of
domestic work not more than marginal.
On 8 August 2012, the Czech human
rights organization Association for
Integration and Migration (SIMI) stood
up before the Senate of the Czech
Parliament with its written position, in
which it supported the need to ratify
this important international instrument
and denied the governments findings
in multiple aspects. For further informa-
tion see the SIMIs position at: www.
migrace.com.
Due to ongoing cuts in the (home
based) care sector in the Netherlands,
workers in home based care are under
a lot of pressure. Many people are
being fired. Those who still have their
jobs experience deteriorating work-
ing conditions. Recently, there has
been a demonstration against these
developments. Also over the past few
years, there has been a series of raids
conducted by the Dutch police against
undocumented migrants working as
live-out domestic workers in affluent
suburbs near Harlem. 21 Dec. a Dutch
TV documentary programme will report
on this question.
In Germany, the Convention C189 has
been discussed in parliament. Across
party lines, there has been support for
ratification, with the exception of the
Liberal party (FDP). Ratification has
been demanded by politicians from the
Green party and the Social Democrats,
including also the demand for a mini-
mum wage for domestic workers.
Nicaragua has ratified the convention.
in October.

Call for Participation in the Research Network for Domestic Worker Rights
A network is the sum of the activities of its members. Thus, we would like to launch a Call for Participation
and give you an idea on how you could start new activities or join existing ones.

The network is not a closed shop and we welcome new initiatives. Please send us - as coordinators - your
ideas for activities and we try to match network members with each other, be it within a region or accross
regions. Also, if you plan activities where a couple of network members participate anyway, you could hold it
as a network activity and increase its visibility.

Currently the coordinators have got a small fund for a participatory research pilot project (see the report and
pictures in this newsletter) and we discuss to apply for a bigger grant to expand it. In case you could imagine
to be part of it, please contact us. And as always, please keep us updated on your publications, your collabora-
tions with domestic worker organizations and calls and reports.

Best wishes from the coordinators Claire, Helen, Lisa, and Rebeca.

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 Research Network for Domestic Worker Rights
Sabrina Marchetti reports that on Dec,
18th Italy has ratified the ILO Conven-
tion 189 of domestic work becoming
the first European country to do so. This
achievement is the result of the efforts
of the main Italian trade unions (CGIL,
CISL and UIL) and several organisations
for migrant and domestic workers who
have joined the 12by12 Campaign.
It is important to underline, however,
that the Italian legislation on domestic
labour already contains all the princi-
ples of the Convention. Therefore, this
ratification shows not so much the
Italian governments intention to make
changes at the normative level, but
rather its proposition to fight undocu-
mented and undeclared work in this
sector.
In Guinea, 35 domestic workers partici-
pated in a workshop on the Convention
on Oct. 13-14. At the occasion, the labor
minister Mme Hadja Fatoumata Tounka-
ra announced that she wants to ratify
Convention 189 as soon as possible. At
the workshop leaders for eight regions
of the country were elected to carry the
campaign there for SYNTRAD.
4. Research
Activities
The National Domestic Workers
Alliance (NDWA), in close collabora-
tion with their affiliates, successfully
completed a two-year national research
project about domestic workers.
The main findings of the research were
presented at an event at the Ford Foun-
dation, which also featured two panels
of experts and a luncheon speech by
NDWAs director, Ai-jen Poo. The Re-
search Team for the project included, in
addition to NDWA, the Center for Urban
Economic Development at the Universi-
ty of Illinois in Chicago, the DataCenter
Domestic Workers United, IDEPSCA
and La Colectiva. The research report
is based on interviews with more than
2,086 nannies, housecleaners and elder
caregivers in 14 metropolitan areas
across the U.S. The survey was con-
ducted in nine languages and focuses
on issues such as wages and benefits,
impact of low wages on the living
conditions of workers and their fami-
lies, employment arrangements and
contracts, health and safety on the job,
abuse at work. The report findings are a
call to action and Home Economics con-
cludes with a set of policy recommen-
dations as well as recommendations to
employers who hire domestic workers.
The report Home Economics: The
Invisible and Unregulated World of
Domestic Work can be downloaded at
http:// www.domesticworkers.org/ho-
meeconomics/
MRCI in Ireland conducted exploratory
research with 120 migrant care workers,
some employed directly as live in carers,
other by home care agency providers
and other working in public and private
nursing/care homes.
Research showed significant levels
of exploitations. 40% of migrant care
workers reported racism and discrimi-
nation in the workplace. See report:
http://www.mrci.ie/wp-content/
uploads/2012/12/Who-Cares-The-ex-
perience-of-Migrant-Care-Workers-in-
Ireland-Nov-2012.pdf
Short film to document care issue in
Ireland on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/
watch?feature=player_
embedded&v=3t2gBsiTDRo&list=
PLsGAwYZ8-WmDZ7y6D2oDiEn5L88P-
jVMHC
Another report by MRCI looks at au
pairing, which is a thriving industry in
Ireland. The following report provides
qualitative and quantitative data on the
experiences of more than fifty au pairs
in Ireland. The experiences documented
point to the systemic abuse of the con-
cept of u pairing. It seems evident that
au pairs are being used as a cheap form
of childcare, which also highlights the
lack of regulation of the industry.
http://www.mrci.ie/category/resources/
publications/
Promoting the Integration of Migrant
Domestic Workers in Europe (IMDW).
Following the adoption of the Con-
vention on Decent Work for Domestic
Workers, the International Labour
Organization (ILO) is implementing an
action-research project to expand the
knowledge base on the integration of
migrant domestic workers in Europe
and enhance stakeholders capacities
to identify and remove barriers to their
socioeconomic integration. The project,
funded by the EC integration fund, and
in collaboration with research institutes
in Belgium (CeMIS), France (INED), Italy
(FIERI), and Spain (Fundacin Ortega
y Gasset), examines the impact of
migration and employment policies
on the socio-economic integration of
migrant domestic workers, with a view
to formulating policy recommendations
at international, national, and local
levels. Using a combination of existing
statistical databases, policy documents,
consultation with government depart-
ments, trade union representatives and
NGOs in addition to semi-structured
interviews with migrant domestic work-
ers, the project focusses on the modes
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 Research Network for Domestic Worker Rights
of integration of migrants within this
employment sector. Following a series
of national consultation seminars in the
four countries, the project will present
its findings and recommendations at a
final conference in Brussels in the late
spring of 2013. More details on the
conference will be announced in 2013.
For more information you can contact
the project coordinator, Maria Gallotti,
gallotti [at] ilo.org.
International Workshop Social
Security Needs for Domestic Work-
ers, 2-3 Dec 2012 in Amsterdam (see
pictures)
The participatory ICDD research project
on Social Security Needs for Domes-
tic Workers, which seeks to research
domestic workers needs for social
security as well as their access to social
security provisions in the Netherlands
and South Africa, convened a meeting
in Amsterdam in the beginning of Dec.
2012 to discuss the work in progress.
There the domestic workers re-
ceived certificates for participating in
the research project - since Sep. they
had been trained in qualitative research
methods and conducted interviews
with other domestic workers. Currently,
similar trainings and data collection
take place in South Africa.
Besides the publication of the
concrete research findings in differ-
ent content-related papers or articles,
the project seeks to develop a training
manual for conducting collaborative
research projects. The project is funded
by ILO-ACTRAV and coordinated by the
ICDD (University of Kassel). Local part-
ners are the trade union FNV Bondgen-
oten in the Netherlands as well as the
Social Law Project and SADSAWU in
South Africa.
5. Conference
Reports
Domestic Workers and Scholar Sup-
porters Discuss at National Womens
Studies Association Conference in
Oakland, California
by Eileen Boris and Kathleen Coll
Nov. 10, 2012, a two part panel un-
der the title, Imagining New Solutions
for Old Problems: Domestic Workers
Create New Networks, Transforming the
Struggle for Social and Economic Jus-
tice met at the annual meeting of the
National Womens Studies Association.
Organized by Kathleen Coll (Stanford)
and Sheila Tully (San Francisco State
University), the panel offered a forum
for domestic worker activists and
academic allies to present the strug-
gles and strategies of the movement
in California and beyond. The goal of
the panel was to challenge traditional
borders and boundaries between
global and local, labor and community,
public and private work, as well as activ-
ism and scholarship. In very difficult
economic and political times, a packed
room heard, domestic workers, with
their labor and community allies, have
used the knowledge of womens past
struggles to imagine new futures.
Following the presentations, confer-
ence attenders shared the situation of
domestic workers in their communities.
Many signed up to support through re-
search, teaching, and public education
the struggle in the U.S. to win decent
work.
Clodhna Murphy on EU-China Hu-
man Rights Seminar:
On 30-31 October 2012, the EU-China
Human Rights Seminar at the Irish
Centre for Human Rights at NUI Gal-
way, Ireland met. The EU-China Human
Rights Seminar is an EU-funded project
which brings together Chinese and Eu-
ropean academics, NGOs and govern-
ment officials to analyse human rights
practices and developments in both
regions. One of the working themes of
this years seminar was migrant work-
ers and Dr Clodhna Murphy (lecturer at
DCU, Ireland) presented a paper which
addressed the topic of Labour Stand-
ards and Labour Disputes: The Case of
Migrant Domestic Workers in Europe
and the findings of the research carried
out in UCC in the Irish Research Council
project Migrant Domestic Workers and
EU Migration Law Regimes; exploring
the limits of human rights protections.
5th World Social Forum
MOBILITY, RIGHTS, GLOBAL MODELS:
LOOKING FOR ALTERNATIVES
MANILA DECLARATION - Nov. 2012
More than 1.800 delegates from
different Peoples Movements, Trade
Unions, Organizations, Academics,
Activists, Faith Based Organizations and
Representatives of Governments, Mem-
bers of Parliaments and Others coming
from 50 countries worldwide partici-
pated in the various work-shops.
The workshop on Migrant Domestic
Workers looked for further actions after
the adoption of the ILO Convention 189
on Decent Work for Domestic Workers.
On the first day the participants dis-
5
 Research Network for Domestic Worker Rights

cussed the realities, challenges and re-
sponses, on the second day on the pro-
tection and empowerment of domestic
workers using international standards
and building collective actions, and on
the third day how to organize domestic
workers by assessing existing models
and imagining future models. The trade
unions of domestic workers both local
and migrants had many experiences of
support and stories of struggles in or-
ganizing themselves and getting their
rights. ILO Convention on Decent Work
for Domestic Workers is the instrument
on which the workers will focus to or-
ganize and demand for the rights both
in home and destination countries.
Final Call: Ratify C 189 Now
2. The 12 by 12 Action Plan
3. C 189 update
4. IDWN Joins Forces with Domestic
Workers in the UK to Retain their Rights
5. Organizing Domestic Workers begins
in Cambodia
6. Baseline Studies of Domestic Workers
and their Organizations in Philippines,
Nepal and Indonesia
Click here for details:
http://idwn.info/publications?field_
publication_type_tid=186

5. International
Domestic Worker
Network News

IDWN will hold its Founding Congress

from 25-27 Oct. 2013 in Montevideo /
Uruguay

More news:
1. Take Action! Give Governments a

Contacts: Research Network for Domestic Worker Rights

Contact to the interim coordinators: Claire Hobden (ILOACTRAV), Rebeca Pabon (FNV Bondgenoten, The Neth-
erlands), Prof. Dr. Helen Schwenken (ICDD/University of Kassel), and LisaMarie Heimeshoff (ICDD/University of
Kassel): dwrn@icdd.unikassel.de

Europe: Dr. Sabrina Marchetti, European University Institute, Florence, sabrinamarchetti@rocketmail.com

Latin America: Prof Dr Adriana Causa, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina: acausa@gmail.com and Prof Dr
Mary Rosaria Goldsmith Connelly, Universidad Autnoma MetropolitanaXochimilco, Mexico: gcmr7503@correo.
xoc.uam.mx

North America: Prof Jennifer N. Fish PhD, Old Dominion University, United States: jfish@odu.edu

Editor of the Newsletter: Lisa-Marie Heimeshoff, dw-rn@icdd.uni-kassel.de