ILO sets out ‘historic’ standards for domestic workers around the world

Friday, June 17th 2011 - 16:52 UTC

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Government, worker and employer delegates at the 100th annual conference of the International Labour Organization (ILO) adopted a historic set of international standards aimed at improving the working conditions of tens of millions of domestic workers worldwide. Read full article

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briton
. What only two countries, another waste of public money,
Now, of course if they could even partly enforce that on the likes of India Pakistan north Korea, china the gold coast, some people might even listen, but i wouldn’t bank on it .
Jun 17th, 2011 - 05:00 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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Fido Dido
ILO is unconstitutional, period. Each country has the right to settle the standards for their domestic workers between their borders, not the UN. It's time to put that dictatorial organization out of business.
Jun 17th, 2011 - 10:22 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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GeoffWard
It is right that the UN, *etc*, should have benchmarks for the employees in this sector, as well as in other sectors where exploitation is rife.

But domestic workers exist in countries of massively different resource and with differing legal frameworks for domestic employment.

For instance, here in Brasil, the basic weekly wage is just the starting point for the payment & benefits package that defines domestic employment.
Some employers still exploit workers employed through the black economy - this is a separate but important issue, as employment registration (or otherwise) is important for taxation (if any) and for 'Social Security' eg. Bolsa Familia payments.

One trend is apparent - the vast expansion of *mobile phones* has made *Daily* contracted domestics a viable life-style, pushing up daily rates - and largely hidden from the authorities.
This is an exploding area of employment - one where the worker plying her trade holds the diary and the 'whip-hand'.

One thing is sure - raising significantly the basic minimum wage for the Domestic Worker group will raise the total package cost of full time domestic employment, and will put millions out of work or into the black, uncontrolable, economy.
It needs VERY careful handling and publicising, along with a media awareness campaign, to avoid it going pear-shaped with unexpected and unplanned consequences.
Jun 19th, 2011 - 11:02 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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