Job security, comparable pay and dignity in service were some of the anxieties highlighted by domestic workers on the occasion of International Domestic Workers’ Day on Monday.
Several women, most of whom work as domestic helps in the city, gathered in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office in an effort to organise themselves under the Domestic Workers’ Rights Union.
For more than a decade, M. Baby said she has been working in various houses in the city. “We work for seven days a week and I am out of the house between 7.30 a.m. and 4 p.m. And yet, the salary I make can barely meet the needs of my family,” she said.
Lack of benefitsFurthermore, she said with no regulation on benefits for domestic workers, she struggles for leave even during times of emergency. “There are five houses and five different owners to ask for leave. And not all may agree to let me take a day-off,” said Ms. Baby.
Similarly, Sharada K., who works in Kunjathbail, said there should be a stipulation for minimum wage to Rs. 1,000 per house. “With the bus fare having increased along with all other essential goods, it is impossible for us to manage with house owners paying us Rs. 500 a month for one hour’s duty daily,” she said.
Living conditionsA majority of the women who spoke to The Hindu said though they had migrated to the city more than a decade ago – from places such as Bagalkot and Salem districts – they were yet to receive caste certificates, ration cards, etc. “We live in small thatched houses by the road and in slums. We have no door number for proof of address. How are we supposed to get access to any welfare scheme?” sought to know Krishnaveni, who has been living in the city for nearly 30 years.
Among the demands submitted to the Deputy Commissioner was the implementation of minimum wage and a day-off per week for domestic workers, identity cards for the domestic workers from the Labour Department for access to schemes such as Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), housing and site schemes, among others.
