Friday, Sep 07, 2012

Manila The International Labour Organisation (ILO) hailed the recent move by the Philippine government to ratify an agreement safeguarding the rights of domestic workers as it said other countries are expected to follow the country’s move.

ILO Director-General Juan Somavia, said the Philippines Senate’s concurrence on President Benigno Aquino III’s ratification of ILO Convention 189 last August 6 is a landmark move to uphold the rights of household workers.

In ratifying the Convention, Somavia said: “The Philippines has become the second country to ratify the ILO Convention 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers, thus allowing the first global standard for domestic workers to come into force in 12 months’ time.”

“Today’s ratification by the Philippines sends a powerful signal to the millions of domestic workers who will be protected when the Convention comes into force. I hope it will also send a signal to other member States and that we will soon see more and more countries committing to protect the rights of domestic workers,” Somavia said.

There are hundreds of millions of workers employed as domestics around the world. Their contribution to the household transcends mere servitude but allows for increased productivity as the wife or husband or both can engage in more financially rewarding endeavours other than housework.

The Philippines is a major source of domestic workers for the world with hundreds of them employed as domestic help in countries in the Middle East, Europe and Southeast Asia, among others.

Workers not servants

ILO said the Convention 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers extends the ILO standards to a sector which continues to be poorly regulated and remains largely part of the informal economy.

“Recent ILO estimates based on national surveys and/or censuses in 117 countries place the global number of domestic workers at around 53 million. But since this kind of work is often hidden and unregistered, experts believe that the total number could be as high as 100 million,” Samovia said

In developing countries such as the Philippines, domestic workers constitute as much as 4 to 12 per cent of wage employment.

“Around 83 per cent of these workers are women or girls, and many are migrant workers. Globally, domestic workers make up 3.6 per cent of wage employment,” he said.

With the Philippines’ ratification of Convention 189, the country now is hard pressed to pass a law that will embody the ideals behind the agreement.

According to Senator Loren Legarda, the Senate as early as last December 2010, passed a measure to safeguard the rights of domestic workers while the House of Representatives only recently approved a parallel proposal the so called “Kasambahay (Domestic Workers) Bill.”

ILO Convention 189 heralds the dawn of better lives for the 1.9 million domestic workers in the country, and the 1.5 million more abroad, she explained.

“As ILO 189 will come into force 12 months after two ILO member-states have ratified it, the Philippines should be justly proud of playing a significant role in improving the employment conditions of kasambahays worldwide. And now, with the Kasambahay Act approved by both Houses of Congress, we can begin guaranteeing that kasambahays in the Philippines are treated as workers, not servants,” she said.

By Gilbert P. Felongco Correspondent

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