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House urged to pass domestic workers bill
Equal rights: Activists and domestic workers stage a rally in Yogyakarta on Friday demanding that the House of Representatives endorse the bill on the protection of domestic workers
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span class="inline inline-none">Equal rights: Activists and domestic workers stage a rally in Yogyakarta on Friday demanding that the House of Representatives endorse the bill on the protection of domestic workers. The bill has been tabled since 2010 but protesters are criticizing its slow passage. (JP/Bambang Muryanto)
Scores of domestic workers and activists in Yogyakarta staged a rally on Friday demanding that the House of Representatives pass a bill on the protection of domestic workers.
They argued that once the bill was endorsed, domestic workers would have holiday allowance, health insurance and other benefits like workers in general enjoyed.
“We’re conducting this rally nationwide and demanding the bill to be endorsed soon,” said Arsih Suharsih of the Domestic Worker Protection Network (JPPRT) at the rally.
She said domestic workers had designated Feb. 15 as Domestic Workers Day in 2007 to commemorate the death of Sunarsih, a child domestic worker in Surabaya, East Java, after she was tortured by her employer in 2001.
Some protesters stood in front of motorists after traffic lights had turned red. Each protester carried a tampah, a flat, round tray made of plaited bamboo, with messages such as “Stop violence against domestic workers”.
Arsih said domestic workers needed a special law because of the specific type of work they did, which differed from the industrial sector. This included long working hours of over eight hours a day and having to live at their places of work.
“The bill has been there in the House since 2010 but is not yet endorsed,” she said.
The House, Arsih said, objected to the bill setting wages for domestic workers at the regional minimum wage, considering it too high. The House also objected to banning child domestic workers, saying that it would be better off for children of poor families to work, rather than hanging around on the streets.
JPPRT coordinator Aminah said that the Yogyakarta provincial administration was committed to protecting domestic workers with the issuance of Governor Regulation No. 31/2010. However, there are no sanctions for employers mistreating domestic workers.
