O trabalho doméstico e as organizações de apoio: estudo comparativo sobre os sindicatos e associações de apoio ao trabalho doméstico e à luta pela sua visibilidade e reconhecimento social

Abstract

Domestic Work (DW) is often devaluated and, in many aspects, appointed as “invisible”. This means it is composed by specific features that pose specific problems. Performed by millions of people, largely migrant, DW is conceived to be done individually in the private home sphere. Frequently done on an informal basis, it is crucial in order to employers maintain their work and life-styles. First we will show how the described features configures problems such as: lack of data knowledge; omissions in aspects of the laws; “maternalistic” relationships; social/human rights violations; absence of work legal inspections and obstacles to political self-organization. Drawing on a comparative study developed by DINAMIA, encompassing five national contexts, we focus on how DW organisations have been overcoming those problems and improving their labour situation. We find that there are some common trends regarding NGO’s or Unions structure and strategies. Despite the differences between general workers’ social rights and those conquered by DW, there have been in the past two decades some significant achievements. As a response to immigration’s impact and to the gap between law and practice, we have been witnessing a growing concern with the construction of cooperation networks between state, NGOs and other social actors, as well as a concern with the empowerment strategies, in what can be understood as a global reframing of “rights” policy strategies.