C189 - The Instrument of Rights, Dignity, and Decent Work for Domestic Workers

Since then, the IDWF and its affiliates have been mobilizing domestic workers to advocate for C189 ratification and labour law reforms to recognize domestic workers’ rights as workers. Domestic workers are using the ILO conventions as advocacy tools - not only the C189 on domestic workers, but also the ILO Fundamental Rights at Work, Violence and Harassment Convention C190 and so on. The IDWF engages in social dialogues of labour laws and standards at all levels - from local, national, regional to international including the ILO. 

The C189 has been a rallying cry for domestic workers around the world ever since its inception. For the first time, the C189 ascertained rights for domestic workers such as access to freedom of association and right to collective bargaining, elimination of forced labour, access to minimum wage not lesser than what is accorded to other workers, protection from violence and harassment, standard contracts, access to normal hours of work, weekly rest and sick leaves, access to social protection, thus entrenching the idea that domestic workers are workers. It further reinforced that domestic workers have rights to decent work and social protection. 

In Asia, the convention has served as a model for how a comprehensive legal framework for domestic workers rights and protections can look like. The Philippines has ratified C189 and has a Batas Kasambahay (Domestic Workers) law that guarantees rights and protections to domestic workers in the Philippines, including minimum wage protection, standard contracts and social protection. In Nepal, the Labour Act 2017 does include domestic workers as workers, although their access to minimum wage and social protection remains limited due to practical issues on the ground. 

And while other countries in Asia have not ratified C189, for domestic worker unions and organizations in Asia, the C189 serves as a standard to organize and advocate for rights that can be gained for domestic workers. For example, the Indonesian Parliament currently has tabled a Domestic Workers Bill. In Malaysia, migrant domestic workers have been included under SOCSO, the social security program for workers. And IDWF affiliates, AMMPO and PERTIMIG have been recognized by PERKESO, the social security authority, to have regular meetings on SOCSO implementation.