Lakshmi (26), a resident of Srinagar, beams with pride as she narrates her transition for a docile domestic help, working submissively under suppressive conditions in “big houses”, to a “bold and empowered” worker, who now demands that her employers pay her fair wages, allow her a weekly off and ensure that she is paid if asked to work beyond prescribed hours.
This “new-found courage” she attributes to the support and motivation she derives from her friends at the Karnataka Domestic Workers' Union. She was sharing her experiences at the International Working Women's Day celebrations organised here on Tuesday by the eight-year-old union, which has a total membership of around 2,000 workers in four districts across the State.
Ms. Lakshmi, who has two children, says that her “courage” extends to her family life as well, where she finds herself not being submissive with her husband and being able to hold her own. On the work front, she is well aware of her rights and will not work for Rs. 300 to Rs. 500 an hour, as she once used to. Her husband is a construction worker.
At the union office here, women have several such tales of empowerment to narrate. Several women spoke about their experiences, and what they have gained from being part of an organised union. A largely-unorganised sector, domestic workers are among the most exploited workforce, and promises by the government to provide social security and other benefits have largely remained on paper. Workers pointed out that even the prescribed minimum wage, a paltry Rs. 3,000 for eight hours of house work, is “simply unrealistic”.
Firstly, who can make ends meet in this city for Rs. 3,000 a month, and secondly, the market rate is around Rs. 1,000 for around 1.5 hours of work, a union member points out. “How then does it make sense to peg the minimum wage at Rs. 3,000,” says Shashikala, an office-bearer of the union.
Being a part of this union has given many of us the courage to speak up, says Vijaya, who works as a domestic help. She narrates how she was able to argue with the owners of a beauty parlour, when they were denying her monthly salary. “They thought they could get away by saying that business was low. When we told them that we had the backing of a registered union, they paid up in no time,” she says.
