Advancing social justice, promoting decent work
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Recognizing domestic workers as workers in Malang
Domestic workers represent the single largest group of female salaried workers contributing to the households of others in their own country or abroad. To date, the ILO, based on the data from the Statistics-Indonesia (BPS), estimates that there were 4 million domestic workers in Indonesia; of these, around 85 thousands are children under the age of 18 years old.
MALANG (ILO News): A campaign to improve the working conditions of domestic workers in Indonesia titled “We Have the Same Right” by reaching out to their employers and the public at large will be launched by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Malang, on Thursday, 15 February, at Dieng 21, Malang, East Java. The launch is conducted in conjunction with the commemoration of the National Day for Domestic Workers and the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Month.
The ‘We Have the Same Right’ Campaign consists of short videos, showing important roles of domestic workers in people’s lives, plights, journeys and hopes of the domestic workers. The Campaign focuses on labour rights of domestic workers that are often forgotten such as, among others, domestic workers’ rights to have one-day off/leaves, to have working contract, to be protected by national health system, minimum working age for domestic workers and to have safe and healthy working conditions.
The Campaign also focuses on the employers of domestic workers – encouraging them to uphold the rights of domestic workers in their own homes. In addition, the Campaign highlights efforts taken by domestic workers and their organizations to be recognized as workers and to promote decent work for domestic workers.
“Awareness raising is one of the important actions to change the way the public perceive domestic workers. It is hoped that through these series of short videos, public at large, particularly the employers, can take a moment to consider their relationship they have with their domestic workers, including to ensure safe and healthy working conditions. The ILO believes that decent work for domestic workers start from our own home,” said Michiko Miyamoto, Country Director of the ILO in Indonesia.
Domestic workers represent the single largest group of female salaried workers contributing to the households of others in their own country or abroad. To date, the ILO, based on the data from the Statistics-Indonesia (BPS), estimates that there were 4 million domestic workers in Indonesia; of these, around 85 thousands are children under the age of 18 years old.
In collaboration with Cinema XXI, the largest cinema chain in the country, the Malang launch marks the final launch of the campaign in three cities. Previous launches were conducted in Lampung and Makassar on 10 and 12 February, respectively. These three cities are the targeted areas of the ILO's programme to promote decent work for domestic workers and to eliminate child domestic workers in Indonesia: ILO-PROMOTE Project.
Funded by the United States Department of Labour (USDOL), ILO-PROMOTE Project aims at increasing the knowledge, skills and expertise on reducing child domestic workers and on promoting decent work for domestic workers. The project has been running in Indonesia for four years since 2013 and would come to an end in March 2018.
