Underlining the need to organise domestic workers through processes of systematic planning and mapping and by convincing workers of the benefits of trade unions, Shantakumar describes the ongoing efforts at increasing union membership and creating a cadre of trained organisers to sustain these efforts. He also highlights the efforts of the INTUC in advocating for the application of social security laws to workers and its strong resolve to contribute to mobilisation around the protection of the rights of domestic workers.

The ground reality and the nature of the Indian economy is predominately informal; about 92.8 per cent of total employment is without any formal terms and conditions of employment or well-defined rights and obligations. These workers are generally not recognised as workers whose working conditions are regulated by labour laws. A vast majority of informal wage workers are casual, insecure about their employment and often exploited. They also lack adequate legal and social protection such as fixed wages, regulated working hours, provision of social security and a right to collective bargaining. As per the statistics available, there are about 422.6 million informal economy workers in India, of which 256.1 million are in agriculture sector and 166.5 million in non-agriculture sector. About 90.7 per cent of male workers and 95.0 per cent of female workers in the non-agriculture sector are employed in the informal sectors. Among informal women wage workers, about 47 per cent are casual wage workers, of which 20 per cent are employed as domestic workers in private households. The INTUC`s main objective, in this context, is to work toward decent work, decent life and decent wages for all domestic workers by promoting equality and bringing them under the definition of workers.

The Importance of Trade Unions

In our understanding, it is unfortunate that work with domestic workers is taken up mostly by NGOs. The INTUC thought it was important to develop a project to organise the unorganised domestic workers through a systematic process of planning and mapping, with the aim of enrolling them as members and in the process communicating the importance of a trade union.

Accordingly, a joint ILO-ACTRAV and INTUC Workers` Education Project titled `Pilot Project on Decent Work for Domestic Workers: Organising, Skills Upgradation and Advocacy` has been developed for implementation in Bangalore city. The INTUC has also organised domestic workers there under a registered trade union, the Karnataka Domestic Workers` Congress.

Because it was difficult to meet domestic workers in the day, INTUC workers and organisers met them in groups during the evenings to inform them about their rights and the need for a trade union. They were told about the role of trade unions in taking up issues directly with different government departments to ensure that domestic workers` rights are enforced and improved, and to have them covered by the social security net. Subsequently 30 trainers, 27 of whom are women, were identified and a three-day ILO/INTUC training workshop was organised for them in November 2009.

The participants were trained with the aim of making them effective organisers, capable of mobilising a maximum number of domestic workers to join the INTUC union. The training also included the drafting and collective critique of action plans to this effect. Trainees were advised  to listen patiently to the grievances of domestic workers and to give them confidence in their situation by communicating what trade unions can do for them, and in the process enroll them as union members. The results have been good so far, with many domestic workers voluntarily joining INTUC unions.

A central issue of concern, taken up on a war footing by the national INTUC President, Dr. G. Sanjeeva Reddy, M.P., is the lack of access to social security by domestic workers. A common characteristic of the working situation of many domestic workers is the denial of protection needed to preserve the conditions of decent work. The workers are not effectively brought under the existing social safety net, and are ignorant of the schemes and benefits available to them. Though Karnataka has been a pioneer in extending the Minimum Wages Act to Domestic Workers in 2004, the rate fixed is insufficient for a living wage. The Government of India, headed by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Smt. Sonia Gandhi have released significant funds for people below the poverty line, to which domestic workers largely belong; it is in the process attempting to bring them under the social net. These benefits, however, have not reached these workers due to poor delivery systems and poor implementation in the respective states. For example, the central government`s National Social Assistance Programme has been in force since 1995-96 and has three components (1) National Old Age Pension Scheme (NOAPS), (2) National Family Benefits Scheme (NFBS) and (3) Annapurna Scheme. Under the NOAPS, destitute persons above 65 years of age are given Rs 400 as assistance. Under the NFBS, Rs 10,000 is given to BPL families on the death of the bread winner and under the Annapurna Scheme, 10 kg of good grain per month is given free of cost to all destitute persons above 65 years of age. Many domestic workers do not know about these schemes, available since 2004, and the concerned government departments are not serious in implementing these schemes.

ILO Convention and National Legislation

The Governing Body of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), at its March 2008 session, put the promotion of Decent Work for Domestic Workers on the Agenda of the 2010 International Labour Conference (ILC). The INTUC sees this as a historic step, following as it does on the resolution on domestic workers adopted unanimously by delegates to the ILC in 1948! What is needed now is to prepare to revisit this resolution in 2010.

The ILO should ensure that maximum support is mobilised for the proposal to draw up a Convention and an accompanying Recommendation. The adoption of instruments in the ILC is no easy task and worker delegates must be mobilised in order to obtain a two-thirds majority of the vote cast. We are confident that our INTUC National Vice President/President INTUC Karnataka and the ILO Governing Body member Sri. N.M. Adyanthaya and Dr. Reddy, wi1l be able to make central contributions to this mission at the appropriate forums.

Responding to a call by Dr. Reddy for a national legislation for domestic workers in a paper presented in the 29th Plenary Session of the INTUC held in Cochin from 9-12 October 2009, the INTUC took a unanimous decision to urge the Government of India to form a social security net by merging PF, ESI and other social security benefits systems. Dr. Reddy has also urged that the Government of India consider INTUC`s suggestion to increase its present spending towards social security services, which is currently hardly 2 per cent of the GDP as compared to other countries, which are spending net 10-20 per cent or even more. This will bring many millions of workers under the Social Security Net.