News

SOUTH AFRICA -

Domestic workers will now be able to access nationwide private health care – at a cost of R170 to the employer.  DomestiCare – a new health-care scheme – was launched this month by the CareCross Health Group.

“Four years ago, Old Mutual developed and launched a domestic pension fund at the Union Buildings, and then-deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka appealed to all employers to ‘show their workers they cared’ and reward them by taking out this policy,” the union’s provincial secretary, Myrtle Witbooi, said on Feb 25.

But things didn’t go as planned.

“Two years later, only 300 employers responded, prompting Old Mutual to stop this fund as they were losing out. This fund was out of the hard work of many progressive women’s organisations but it was not compulsory… it depended on the kindness of the employers.

“This is exactly what this new plan (DomestiCare) is all about, and it will never reach a million domestic workers. We need a plan from our Health Department that will include all workers,” she said.

GLOBAL -

Despite these harsh conditions, domestic workers have been courageously standing up for their rights on the job—creating associations and joining unions in places such as the Dominican Republic, Hong Kong, Kenya and the United States. The partnerships that have developed between labor unions and domestic worker organizations have helped the labor movement develop a new blueprint to respond to a global economy that increasingly is based on precarious work. This collaboration has raised the level of respect and recognition for domestic workers, established labor standards and built a more inclusive and powerful labor movement around the world. Collectively, domestic workers have formed the International Domestic Workers’ Network (IDWN). We are proud to work in partnership with domestic workers in the United States and around the world to build a stronger and more representative labor movement, and to award the 2013 George Meany–Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award to the IDWN.

LEBANON -

Developed by KAFA (enough) Violence & Exploitation, a non-profit organization working on ending violence against women, "Domestic Work in Lebanon" is a video providing information and advice to the domestic workers who will be going to Lebanon.

BRAZIL -

A video report about how a rising middle class is affecting domestic workers in Brazil.