SA Domestic Service in the Global Context –ILO Conference 2010

Decent work Agenda - ILO

Ensure Visibility and respect. Offer specific, constructive guidance on how to regulate effectively ..........

ILO identified linkages:

MIGRANT DOMESTIC WORKERS

FORCED LABOUR

SLAVERY

Child Domestic Workers -ILO

In many countries this practice is not only socially and culturally accepted but might be regarded positively as a protected and non-stigmatised type of work, and therefore preferable to other forms of work especially for the girl-child.

[...] more girl – children under 16 are in domestic service than in any other category of child labour.

http://www.ilo.org/ipec/areas/Childdomesticlabour

SA Domestic Worker’s Wages

MINIMUM RATES 1ST DEC 2010- 30TH NOV 2011-ENGLISH EQUIVALENT.

HOURLY RATE 61P

WEEKLY RATE £27.40

MONTHLY RATE £118.69

MINIMUM WAGES FOR THOSE WORKERS WHO WORK MORE THAN 27 ORDINARY HOURS .

SA Domestic Worker’s Rights

The Domestic Worker’s Act – applying to 1 -1.5 million workers

DAY NO MORE THAN 9 HRS

WEEKLY NO MORE THAN 45 HRS

OVERTIME NO MORE THAN 15 HRS A WEEK

DOUBLE PAY WEEKENDS

SEVERANCE PAY 1 WK FOR EVERY YR

MATERNITY LEAVE UNPAID

UK / SA Comparison

Cost of living : Consumer price and rent 28% cheaper in SA

UK worker on minimum wage 7 times better off than SA domestic worker.

Emigrating to the Rainbow Nation???

What every Ex-pat must have..............

Domestic Service Domestic Service re-

examined in Post-Apartheid South Africa

Alison Jill King

Domestic Service re-examined in Post-

Apartheid South Africa

Alison Jill King

Jackie Cock’s 1989/1979 Research

Three different interview schedules used:(I) 125 domestic workers were briefly

interviewed by me using a structured interview schedule focusing on objective aspects of their work situation;

(II) 50 domestic workers were interviewed by a field worker;

(III) 50 employers of domestic servants were interviewed by me.

(Cock, 1989/1979:70)

‘Microcosm’ of Apartheid

Domestic workers and their employers are not free and equal participants in interaction. Their interaction is shaped and coloured by the structures which control the distribution of power and resources in South African Society.

(Cock, 1989/1979:4)

Research Aim

To ascertain if the dismantling of apartheid had improved the lives of domestic workers in South Africa

Pay and condition

s

Quality of the lives of domestic workers

Relationship between employer

and servant

Theoretic Roots

Hegel – Lordship/BondageGenovese – Paternalism

Newby – Deferential WorkerScott – Hidden Transcripts of Resistance

Cohen Stan – States of Denial

Focus on the relationship between employer and servant

Paternalism as defined by Genovese (1976)

“Paternalism by this definition is that whites see themselves in the parental role in their relationship to blacks, because the ‘child’ is incapable of making independent choices. Genovese further argued that the whites used the notion of paternalism as a moral justification of the institution of slavery. The rationale being that an inferior people was incapable of self – sustained civilised life”

Why Differentiation between Maternalism & Paternalism?

“… the appropriate term is not paternalism but maternalism. And this change is more than semantic: women, who have been the majority of employers of domestics in the West… have modified the relationship to distinctively feminine ways, thus creating a dynamic similar but not identical with paternalism…the importance of the employer being female in affecting the position, tone and dynamics of the relationship cannot be overestimated.”(Rollins, 1985:179)

Why Kindness can be a Power Tool

“Kindness serves as a mask for personalised power to hide behind. The employer maintains control and fulfils her/his desires not by physical coercion but by emotional pressure. You are the ‘other’ but I care for you because you are the ‘other’.”

The Outcome of the Kindness and Power Dynamic

“The child becomes aware of its own abuse because it is so blatant and resistance even if it is hidden will develop. However an outward show of kindness may well disguise from the child the fact that it is being exploited. Perhaps it would not be an overstatement to suggest that kindness in this relationship is more insidious than overt exploitation as the recipient may be unaware of the reality of their circumstances and consequently the power the employer has over them is enhanced.”

Foucault’s Definition of Power

“Power is exercised rather than possessed,… Power in that sense does not exist; what exists is an infinitely complex of micro-powers, or power relations that permeate every aspect of social life… it is multiple and ubiquitous”

Speak for Themselves

When we look back at our history, it is clear we have neglected to save just those people who could help us most. Because no matter what anyone says, it is the black woman’s words that have the most meaning for us, her daughters because she (…) has experienced life not only as a black person but as a woman.

Alice Walker, 1992:275

Educated Xhosa Maid

I didn’t have a lot of hope. All the money I managed to save whilst I had worked as a shop assistant had gone. I asked Claire [employer] to give me money and after I finished studying I would pay her back […] My education is destroying me. When I apply for a job, they [prospective employers] look at my qualifications and reject me. They say “You’re a teacher. When you get a job , a teaching job, you’ll leave us. We want someone permanent.” I have to lie and not tell them what I have.

Afrikaner Madam

Husbands can be difficult. The one who got sick used to have to come in on Sunday to work for us, but they do get extra pay for that. Her husband didn’t like it, The Sunday we were getting Tommy [son] christened we had lots of people coming around. She was late and we had to be at church. It was very disappointing. Her husband was being difficult, he was moaning about who was going to look after their children. It is good Jeanie [present maid] is single, we can take her with us for the weekend when we want to.

Final Consideration