Domestic workers and carers, most of whom are migrant
women, should be given an official status in the EU. Recognizing their work as
"real" jobs would discourage exploitation, forced labour and human
trafficking, say MEPs in a resolution voted on Thursday. MEPs recommend
establishing easy-to-manage models for legal employer-worker relationships,
citing examples in Belgium and France, to end precariousness and undeclared
domestic work.
"Domestic
workers and carers enable us to follow our careers, and enjoy our social lives.
We entrust them with our homes, our children, our parents. But, they are
invisible, undeclared, victims of insecurity and social exclusion. Also, most
are women, working long hours with no days off, without medical cover or pension
plans, said rapporteur Kostadinka Kuneva (GUE/NGL, EL).
"Our
ageing population and the fact that women are entering the labour market means
that we have an ever greater need for them. Yet EU member states continue to
allow them to work in the grey economy", she added.
The
resolution was approved by 279 votes to 105, with 204 abstentions
Dignity for domestic workers
Domestic
workers and carers should be included in all national labour, healthcare,
social care and anti-discrimination laws and be enabled to join trade unions,
says the text. Furthermore, EU member states should ensure wider access to
affordable quality care, e.g. for children or elderly, so as to reduce
incentives to hire carers illegally, but also provide viable and legal career
options for these domestic workers in social care services.
MEPs call
for a “professionalization” of domestic work to turn precarious and undeclared
female work into recognized jobs, which would give domestic workers and carers
social protection rights. They also urge the EU Commission to propose a
framework for recognition of the status of non-professional carers, which offers
them remuneration and social protection during the time they perform the care
tasks.
Fight black labour, trafficking and abuse of migrant
women
The
majority of domestic workers and carers are migrant women, most of whom are in
an irregular situation, says the text, which points out that their social and
cultural inclusion is facilitated by integrating them into the labour market.
Only
adequate inspection methods and penalties can stop human trafficking and
financial exploitation of domestic workers, MEPs say,
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