scholarly journals Challenging Disregard: Advocacy Journalism and the Campaign for Domestic Worker Legislation in Indonesia

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 201
Author(s):  
Mary Austin
Keyword(s):  
Media Coverage ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Domestic Work ◽  
Domestic Workers ◽  
Domestic Worker ◽  
Political Opportunities ◽  
The Social ◽  
Advocacy Journalism ◽  
Funded Project ◽  
Media Narratives

<p>This article examines a recent ILO funded project designed to engage more Indonesian journalists and media organizations in advocacy journalism on behalf of domestic worker legislation. Applying Ann Stoler’s notion of ‘disregard’ in the context of post-Suharto<br />democratization, I illustrate how established newsroom practices and patterns of reporting helped maintain distinctions between ‘home’ and overseas domestic workers which impeded progress towards comprehensive legislation. Indonesia’s endorsement of the adoption of ILO Convention 189 in June 2011 opened up political opportunities, provided a framework for re-scripting media narratives and encouraged journalists to give more space to domestic workers’ voices. At the same time, increased media coverage enabled those opposed to legislation to reiterate a gendered disregard for the social and economic value of domestic work.</p>

scholarly journals Urgensi Ratifikasi Konvensi Pekerjaan yang Layak bagi Pekerja Rumah Tangga oleh Pemerintah Indonesia

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-133
Author(s):  
Kartika Dewi Mulyanto
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Status ◽  
Domestic Workers ◽  
International Labour Organization ◽  
International Labor Organization ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Decent Work ◽  
Domestic Worker ◽  
International Labor ◽  
The Social

The existence of domestic workers or better known as domestic workers is no stranger to the life of Indonesian society. Domestic worker is a job that provides services to a family to do homework such as cooking, cleaning house, washing clothes and others. However, because there is no regulation that regulates domestic workers maximally, and there are often different degrees between employers and workers, there is a lot of violence against domestic workers. In 2011, the International Labor Organization issued an ILO Convention No. 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers. This Convention as evidence that domestic workers need to be legally protected as human beings with human rights. Based on the result of the research, it can be concluded that the act of ratification of ILO Convention No. 189 of 2011 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers needs to be done, in an effort to increase the protection of domestic workers' rights law, to increase the economy of domestic workers, and to raise the social status of domestic workers Indonesia. Abstrak Keberadaan pekerja rumah tangga atau yang lebih dikenal sebagai pembantu rumah tangga sudah tidak asing lagi dalam kehidupan masyarakat Indonesia. Pekerja rumah tangga merupakan suatu pekerjaan yang memberikan jasa kepada suatu keluarga untuk mengerjakan pekerjaan rumah seperti memasak, membersihakan rumah, mencuci baju dan yang lainnya. Namun karena belum ada regulasi yang mengatur pekerja rumah tangga secara maksimal, dan sering terjadi perbedaan derajat antara majikan dan pekerja, maka banyak terjadi kekerasan terhadap pekerja rumah tangga. Pada tahun 2011, International Labour Organization mengeluarkan suatu Konvensi ILO Nomor 189 tentang Pekerjaan yang Layak bagi Pekerja Rumah Tangga. Konvensi ini sebagai bukti bahwa pekerja rumah tangga perlu mendapat perlindungan secara hukum sebagai manusia yang memiliki hak asasi manusia. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian dapat disimpulkan bahwa tindakan ratifikasi Konvensi ILO Nomor 189 tahun 2011 tentang Pekerjaan yang Layak bagi Pekerja Rumah Tangga perlu dilakukan, sebagai upaya peningkatan perlindungan hukum hak-hak pekerja rumah tangga, peningkatkan ekonomi pekerja rumah tangga, serta menaikkan status sosial pekerja rumah tangga Indonesia.

Is outsourcing better? Clients' views on contracting in domestic cleaning services

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
David du Toit ◽  
Lindy Heinecken
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Domestic Work ◽  
Domestic Workers ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Domestic Worker ◽  
Domestic Servants ◽  
The People ◽  
Routine Tasks

PurposeThe nature of paid domestic work is changing, with the growth in companies delivering domestic cleaning services. Few studies have looked at why people opt to use these services and the underlying drivers. As with the outsourcing of non-core tasks in businesses, outsourcing domestic work is motivated by similar, yet different reasons, which have to do with the personal and private nature of domestic employment. This study aims to establish the reasons why “clients”, who were former employers of domestic servants, opted to outsource domestic work to a domestic cleaning service provider.Design/methodology/approachGiven the limited research on domestic cleaning services in South Africa, a mixed-methods research approach is used.FindingsThe findings showed that there are three key motivations: the nature of the domestic cleaning service supplier, the services rendered by domestic workers and the tripartite employment relationships. These three benefits imply that clients have access to functional and numerical flexibility, unlike employing a domestic worker directly. This study contributes to the literature on outsourcing and domestic work by showing that clients not only look to change the economic structure of the relationship with domestic workers, but it allows them to psychologically and emotionally distance themselves from domestic workers.Research limitations/implicationsThis study shows that some people are no longer willing to have a relationship with the people who clean their homes, and that they believe it is simply not worth the effort to maintain a relationship. This is an aspect that needs further research, as this is the one sphere where women are united in their plight, albeit from different worldviews. Thus, a limitation is that this study only focuses on clients' views of outsourcing. Have domestic workers employed by the outsourced domestic cleaning service supplier become just like assembly-line workers, where they are anonymous to their clients, performing routine tasks with little recognition from those whose homes they are servicing? Future studies could focus on domestic workers' views on outsourcing and the effects it has on their working conditions and employment relations.Originality/valueFirstly, studies mainly focus on the Global North where domestic work and outsourcing have different dynamics, regulation policies and social changes when compared to South Africa. Secondly, few studies have sought to establish why people shift from employing a domestic or care worker directly to an outsourced domestic agency when direct domestic help is available and affordable. Considering these shortcomings, this study aims to provide a better understanding of domestic cleaning service suppliers from the perspective of clients, often omitted from the literature. Accordingly, this study aimed to establish what the benefits are for clients (former employers of domestic workers) who use domestic cleaning service suppliers.

Home, domestic work and the state: The spatial politics of domestic workers’ activism

2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 367-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim England
Keyword(s):  
Social Movement ◽  
Domestic Work ◽  
Domestic Workers ◽  
The United States ◽  
The State ◽  
Spatial Politics ◽  
Private Space ◽  
Domestic Worker ◽  
Recent Emergence ◽  
Labour Legislation

This article explores the spatialities associated with the recent emergence of a social movement of domestic workers in the United States. Domestic work is rendered invisible, not only as a form of ‘real work’, but also because it is hidden in other people’s homes. The article unpacks the home as a private space beyond government intervention, and as domestic worker activists argue, when homes are workplaces workers should be protected from exploitation. Domestic workers have become active and visible in campaigns to gain coverage under labour legislation at the state and federal government levels. An analysis of the success of their campaigns reveals a set of strategies and tactics that draw on feminist care ethics in a range of different locations, and that thinking spatially has been pivotal in the emergence and continued growth of their social movement.

Like Any Other Job?

2019 ◽  
pp. 105-121
Author(s):  
Erynn Masi de Casanova
Keyword(s):  
Working Class ◽  
Social Reproduction ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Domestic Work ◽  
Domestic Workers ◽  
Class Relations ◽  
Political Will ◽  
Domestic Worker ◽  
Informal Workers ◽  
Political Effectiveness

This chapter explores some of the challenges that organizers of domestic workers in Ecuador face. Its discussion of domestic worker organizing touches on the three major themes of this book: social reproduction, informal arrangements that render domestic work invisible, and class relations that degrade and dehumanize workers. Workers' engagement in long hours of paid and unpaid social reproduction makes them difficult to reach and organize. Informal arrangements, and lack of political will and political effectiveness to change these arrangements, combine to make the enforcement of existing laws difficult. Moreover, relationships with the left-leaning state, embedded in traditional assumptions about who constitutes the working class—assumptions that leave out women and informal workers—have been fraught. The chapter then shows how domestic workers and their advocates have been organizing, what strategies they have used to demand the rights of these workers, and what the implications of these strategies are for political action and change.

“First to Work; Last to Sleep”

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer N. Fish
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Domestic Workers ◽  
Social Position ◽  
Central Point ◽  
Private Household ◽  
Domestic Worker ◽  
The Social ◽  
Historical Trajectory

Chapter 4 outlines the historical trajectory of domestic workers’ social position, “from slaves to workers.” It spells out the terms of the domestic worker protections debated within the ILO, with special attention given to the issues and concerns that generated the widest debate. The discussion examines the tripartite negotiations among government, employer, and worker organizations over the course of two International Labour Conferences, with an eye on the larger meanings of the terms debated on the social policy floor. Migration emerges as a central point of debate in the negotiating process, as policymakers confronted the challenges of protecting migrant workers in the private household.

scholarly journals Being a Female Domestic Worker During the Pandemic Period from the Hope Perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-196
Author(s):  
Çiğdem DEMİR ÇELEBİ
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Domestic Workers ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
Adaptation Process ◽  
Domestic Worker ◽  
Important Concept ◽  
The Social ◽  
Economic Income

Pandemic processes are important factors triggering the changes in the psychological and sociological structure of society. The COVID-19 outbreak has embodied many variables affecting people's lives in several terms in Turkey as in the whole world. People have appeared to face many psychosocial and economic difficulties due to the social and economic conditions changing with the pandemic period. During this period, domestic workers are the first people who experience these problems in multiple ways. Hope is an important concept in terms of protecting and improving the well-being of domestic worker women who have serious problems in terms of social security, social relations and economic income. Therefore, this research aims at examining the hope mechanisms developed by female domestic workers against the difficulties they experience during the pandemic period between March-June 2020. As it known, hope increases the well-being of people. 15 female domestic workers participated in the research, which was designed in a descriptive phenomenological pattern. The analyses obtained as a result of the interviews held with the female domestic workers revealed that the findings were related to the themes of sources of hope and adaptation process during the pandemic.

scholarly journals Profile and Problems of Women Domestic Workers in Mangochi, Malawi

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2S3) ◽  
pp. 1167-1171
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Work ◽  
Research Work ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Domestic Workers ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Socioeconomic Background ◽  
Domestic Worker ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Self Help Groups

Domestic workers - who sweep, swab, wash, cook, take care of the children and look after the elderly – yet, are invisible. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), "A domestic worker is someone who carries out household work in a private household in return for wages." The poor and marginalized women are now joining the growing force of domestic workers in Malawian towns and villages. In this backdrop, this research work aims at understanding the socioeconomic background of women domestic workers and problems faced by them in Mangochi District in Malawi. This particular region was selected for research as it has a large number of women domestic workers due to seasonal employment in Salt and Fishing sectors. 100 women domestic workers were selected as sample through Purposive Sampling method and the required data were collected from them by using a semi structured interview schedule designed for this purpose. The study results show that the poor economic condition of family drives the women to opt for domestic work and they are exploited by the employers in many forms. They possess a very low status both in the workplace as well as in the society. They work for a paltry sum and are at the mercy of their keepers without any rights. The study emphasizes the need for a comprehensive policy and legislations to control the exploitation of women in unorganized workforce. Domestic Work should be declared as a profession and as such all the rights and privileges as applicable to all other workers are made available to them. Establishing Self help groups in their area and giving training in income generating activities will certainly go a long way to empower them.

“Look Deep in Your Hearts”

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer N. Fish
Keyword(s):  
Global Economy ◽  
Domestic Work ◽  
Domestic Workers ◽  
Household Labor ◽  
Worker Rights ◽  
Domestic Worker ◽  
Ethnographic Approach ◽  
Key Concepts ◽  
Key Players

This chapter sets the stage for the global domestic workers’ movement that is at the center of this book. It examines the landscape of household labor and highlights the key concepts necessary for an understanding of domestic work in the global economy, highlighting the traditional power imbalances that exist between “maids and madams.” The chapter introduces key players in the struggle for domestic worker rights, and the challenges they faced in addressing widespread injustice. An overview of the scholar-activist framework, embedded ethnographic approach, and the author’s particular research journey is also included.

scholarly journals Domestic workers in New Zealand and the implications of International Labour Organization Convention No. 189

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Rachel Hyde
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Domestic Work ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Domestic Workers ◽  
International Labour Organization ◽  
Decent Work ◽  
Domestic Worker ◽  
Human Rights Act ◽  
Low Pay

<p>There are an estimated 52.6 million domestic workers in the world, 83 per cent of whom are women, and many of whom work in poor conditions for low pay. Globally, domestic work is an under-regulated and under-valued sector. In an effort to address the precariousness of domestic work, the International Labour Organization adopted Convention No 189, concerning decent work for domestic workers. The Convention came into force on 5 September 2013. It provides for global minimum standards in areas in respect to which domestic workers should enjoy employment and social protection. The rights of domestic workers in New Zealand are addressed in a number of pieces of legislation, including the Employment Relations Act 2000, the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992, and the Human Rights Act 1993. Although some categories of domestic worker receive protection under the legislation, others do not. This paper argues that the coverage of domestic workers in New Zealand is confusing and incomplete. For many domestic workers in New Zealand low pay and poor working conditions are a reality. If New Zealand’s domestic workers are to receive the same protection as other New Zealand employees and those domestic workers in nations that have ratified Convention No 189, then ratification of the Convention and associated domestic legislative change may be necessary to bring domestic law into line with international labour law. In the absence of ratification there are a number of options that could be pursued to improve the working lives of domestic workers in New Zealand.</p>

scholarly journals Haushaltsarbeit und affektive Arbeit

2014 ◽  
Vol 44 (174) ◽  
Author(s):  
Encarnacion Gutiérrez Rodríguez
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Work ◽  
Domestic Workers ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Care Work ◽  
Undocumented Migrant ◽  
Affective Dimension ◽  
Central Topic ◽  
The People ◽  
The Social ◽  
Socioeconomic Studies

The central topic of this article is the social devaluation of domestic work, especially focusing on its affective dimension. The question of reproduction as well as the productive character of care-work is constantly neglected in many socioeconomic studies. This counts also for Marxist analyses. Following enquiries in European countries on how domestic work is sensed, how this impacts the people delivering this work, as well as how these feelings linger in spaces and are transferred within relations, the results are interpreted in the context of processes of feminization and the coloniality of labor. Special attention is given to the situation of undocumented migrant domestic workers. As conclusion to these observations some thoughts on formulating domestic workers’ rights along the lines of the politics of affect are elaborated.

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