This is abridged from an Interview by Samuel
Grumiau of the ITUC
I would urge you to read the full
article Here
if you want hear more about the struggle this mother, wife and
migrant worker and Unite activist undertook to organise and
fight for the education and rights people in her situation deserve
and need.
The adoption of an international Convention on Domestic Work and
accompanying recommendation was approved in principle at the last
International Labour Conference. This is a welcome step forward for
the many trade unions fighting to defend this particularly
vulnerable group of workers. One of these unions is Unite the union
in the United Kingdom, which supports the group “Justice for
Domestic Workers”. Marissa Begonia, a Unite member of the group,
describes its activities and the reality of life as a migrant
domestic worker.
How do you define “Justice for Domestic
Workers”?
“Justice for Domestic Workers” (J4DW) is a self-help group for
migrant domestic workers. It is part of the hotel, restaurant and
catering branch of the Unite the union, We campaign and defend our
rights, particularly following the changes to the immigration laws.
It is important that we, as domestic workers, speak up for
ourselves and our rights, rather than having someone else do it for
us. Any action becomes more alive, more visible, and more effective
when domestic workers campaign for themselves, although of course
the support of other trade unions and No Governmental Organizations
(NGOs) is very important. Unite helps us a lot in campaigning, and
developing our skills through education and training…..
We also provide English and IT classes through Unite, as most of
the domestic workers don’t have English as their first language.
This also helps them to fill the requirements of the immigration
procedure.”…..
Unite also provides us some union courses, training and
awareness-raising that gives us the knowledge to fight for our
rights. This education and training help us to develop and improve
our skills so that we can be confident when speaking in public,
when speaking in the parliament, at government meetings, national
and international conferences and mobilizations. This is one of the
best ways to organize domestic workers, as most of them come to us
not just to ask for help but also to learn. We help them understand
that by joining the union, they have access to education, training,
benefits, and we make them aware of the importance of campaigning.
The advice regarding the immigration procedure (to renew a visa and
to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) is provided by
Kalayaan, an NGO providing services and campaigning for the rights
of migrant domestic workers……
How many members do you have, and how do you
recruit them?
…….The first contact we have with most of our members is when
they need support. Most of our members have run away from the homes
of abusive employers. Some are brought to us by people they met
when they were being exploited. Apart from the cases of abuse, the
best form of contact is by word of mouth. I can speak to the women
sitting next to me on a training course, get them more interested
by explaining that they can learn more about their rights, we also
distribute leaflets……
One year on after the creation of your self-help group – have
you already seen results ?
We have improved the lives of many domestic workers who were
over-exploited by their employers. We already have links at the
international level. We took part in the ILO’s last International
Labour Conference for example. And we are very pleased to see that
major trade unions such as Unite are putting the protection of
domestic work higher up their agendas.
Are you a domestic worker?
Yes, I am a domestic worker and have been for 16 years now.
Through this job, I have been raising, educating and giving my
three children the decent living they deserve My first daughter
joined me here in 2008, but I am still having a problem bringing in
my two other children. As a mother, this is all I dream of in my
life: to have all my children by my side. I can still feel the pain
up to this day from when I was forced to leave them. I preferred to
go away rather than see them slowly die of starvation. I don’t wish
them to go through the life I’ve been through. My children are my
whole life, the very reason why I have sacrificed the most I can,
and they are the future……
Have you tried to go back to the Philippines
to live with your children?
In Hong Kong, I have been the victim of many abusive employers,
so I decided to go back to the Philippines. I tried to stay there
with my children. I began to sell food during the day; I got up at
4.00 a.m. every day, but it wasn’t enough to meet our needs, so I
had to work until midnight in the office of a pub as bookkeeper.
Working those hours, I never got to see my kids, and I couldn’t
save any money either. When they were ill, I didn’t have the money
to pay for their treatment. So I had no choice but to leave them
again and find another job abroad to give them a decent life. That
is how I ended up going back to Hong Kong, where my employers
offered to take me to London with them where they were going to
live……
