The rights of domestic workers and good employership

Migrant domestic workers in the Netherlands provide care, feed people and make houses homely. Their role is essential for millions of households, yet their employment is often insecure. This was demonstrated in a compelling manner in two testimonials by migrant domestic workers from the Philippines and Indonesia (see Siti’s story uploaded below) that opened the event.

The meeting also featured results of a recent master’s thesis on ‘The value of domestic work in the Netherlands’ by Angélica Morán Castañeda and an input by feminist labour lawyer Leontine Bijleveld (see her slides uploaded below).

While the meeting “It takes two to tango - Migrant domestic workers’ rights and good employership” brought together a large and engaged audience consisting, among others, of representatives of organizations supporting migrant, labour and women’s rights as well as researchers, students and migrant domestic workers themselves, it was striking that employers remained absent from the event.

Inviting their forward-looking ideas for the guarantee of migrant domestic workers’ rights as well as sharing and scaling examples of good employership remains a task for follow-up gatherings.

The value of domestic work in the Netherlands

What is the economic, emotional and societal value of domestic work in the Netherlands? In this short video produced by Disruptiva Design and based on MA research by Angélica Morán Castañeda, domestic workers talk about their experiences.