Promoting decent work for Indonesian domestic workers: Actor Morgan Oey

Actor Morgan Oey supports the promotion of decent work for Indonesian domestic workers by lending his voice to read out the life story of Sargini as a child domestic worker. Before more than 200 people, Morgan relives the Sargini’s life under the title “The lost childhood”, depicting heavy work burdens she had to face as a child domestic worker in Yogyakarta.

Sargini’s story is one of the 31 stories of domestic workers compiled in the book titled “We Will not Be Silent: 31 Stories of Domestic Workers behind the Domestic Walls”, launched in August 2017 in Jakarta. The book is jointly developed and produced by the ILO, JALA PRT and the Jakarta’s Independent Journalist Alliance (AJI Jakarta).

The ILO greatly appreciates the support given by Indonesian celebrities like Morgan Oey. Their involvement will strengthen the efforts taken by relevant stakeholders to realize decent work for domestic workers and the recognition of domestic workers as workers."

M. Nour, the ILO’s Capacity Building Specialist for Domestic Workers Project

“When working as a child domestic worker, I had been in and out of jobs more than five times. I quit after only working for a week or sometimes for a month because of various reasons that I did not even understand. Probably due to heavy workloads, indecent facilities or low salary. I was not really sure. I just wanted to go back home, for sure,” voiced Morgan, bringing Sargini’s story to life.

“The ILO greatly appreciates the support given by Indonesian celebrities like Morgan Oey. Their involvement will strengthen the efforts taken by relevant stakeholders to realize decent work for domestic workers and the recognition of domestic workers as workers,” said M. Nour, the ILO’s Capacity Building Specialist for Domestic Workers Project.

The book consists of 31 stories written by 27 domestic workers who aspire to change the perception and stigma against domestic workers. Through their stories, these domestic workers strive to break the existing social and political systems, urging that their professions should be recognized as workers, they should be legally protected under the law, their labour rights should be respected like other workers and the child domestic labour should be eliminated.

The campaign is conducted by the ILO through its Promoting Decent Work for Domestic Workers to End Child Domestic Work (PROMOTE) Project. Funded by the United States Department of Labour (USDOL), ILO-PROMOTE Project aims at reducing child domestic workers significantly by building institutional capacities of partners to promote Decent Work for Domestic Workers effectively. The Project works to increase the knowledge, skills and expertise on reducing child domestic workers and promote decent work for domestic workers.