Maids Defend Rights of Mexican Domestic Workers Maria Myka - Latino Post
go to original January 3, 2016

Mexican cleaners unite against ‘humiliation and discrimination’ (France 24 English)

They clean the house, wash the dishes, do the laundry, run the errands and quite even possibly double as baby-sitters, and yet, very few give maids the respect they deserve.

Actually, they are even denied their rights at times, many of them paid so badly that they cannot afford their own rent. Oftentimes, they are the scapegoats for things that aren't faring so well in the homes they work for.

In Mexico, these maids are starting to fight back.

A report from BBC stated that these days, maids in mexico are looking for support, and by the end of August 2015, a group has successfully formed into the first union, for and run by domestic workers.

Marta Leal Morales, general secretary of the newly-formed National Union of Domestic Workers (Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores y Trabajadoras del Hogar) said, "Conditions for women who work in homes in Mexico are very precarious. We decided that this union would be to defend the rights of domestic workers, so they could have a better quality of life."

The news outlet noted that according to a national statistics agency, more than 2.3 million people are paid domestic workers in Mexico, 95% of them women. Out of the 2.3 million, nearly two million are maids, the others being cooks, drivers, dishwashers and care workers. Despite their large population, the sector is poorly regulated and they are badly paid -- so badly that some workers receive as little as $6 a day.

Read the rest at LatinOne

Related: Mexican Factory Workers Seek to Unionize Against Low Wages, Mistreatment (Fronteras Desk)

Photo: Teseo Fournier

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