Dear Friends
This letter comes to you from our Status Now Network signatory, the Kanlungan Filipino Consortium and their partner, the Filipino Domestic Workers Association.
“We salute the invisible workforce of domestic workers and celebrate their contribution to society on this International Domestic Workers day, 16 June 2020.
Yet many domestic workers in the UK, and indeed all over the world, are migrants. They are extremely vulnerable because their visas often tie them to an individual employer. This gives the employer enormous power over them and can expose these workers to violence and sexual abuse. Many of our undocumented workers work in almost slave-like conditions.
At the height of the corona virus pandemic, many domestic workers lost their jobs because their employers were afraid they might “carry” the virus. Many of them who were “live in” were evicted rendered homeless. They were pushed into overcrowded accommodation with friends and relatives. Some contracted the virus and some died. Many of those who kept their jobs were confined with their employers in the lockdown and ended up having to serve their employers day and night.
But also many thousands of these domestic workers, also carers for isolated elderly people, have provided them with vital care during the pandemic thus far. These workers were shown to be literally “lifesavers” for many vulnerable people in our communities:
Continue reading “International Domestic Workers day, 16 June 2020”
