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MANY if not most South Africans who employ domestic workers have probably never really given much thought to the conditions faced by the mainly women who look after their children and clean their toilets and homes, says Terry Bell in his latest Labour Wrap.
As a result, he says, there was the usual cacophony of protest when the latest sectoral determination for minimum wages for domestics was announced by Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant. Such workers were being “priced out of the market” and, as a result, jobs would be lost.
READ: Minimum wage could be hugely destructive
This is a totally fallacious argument, says Bell. He points out that the income of most employers of domestic labour has increased to a much greater extent than that of their employees - and that the employees started from a terribly low base.
In any event, he says, in cases where both parents work it is essential to have someone to look after the children and maintain the household. Such labour deserves to be rewarded adequately.
Nearly 50 years ago, the first modern domestic worker organisation made that demand. It was for a living wage and “proper hours”, the dream of a better life.
In theory the question of hours has been resolved by legislation such as the Labour Relations and Basic Conditions of Employment Acts. Unfortunately, says Bell, many of these conditions continue to be observed in the breach because of inadequate enforcement.
He also points out that the only expense over which low paid workers have any control, is food. All the other expenses - rent, water, electricity and transport, let alone school fees - are predetermined and must be paid. As a result, he says, it is unsurprising to discover that as many as a quarter of our population regularly goes hungry. And the consequences for the future, especially in terms of health, are often enormous.
So the organised domestic workers are again promising to protest in the new year at their treatment. Half a century down the line, the dream of a better life lives on.
There is no differentiation between domestic workers who live in and those who travel in the new minimum wage adjustment, Bell explains in this week's Labour Wrap.
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- Terry Bell is a political, economic and labour analyst. Views expressed are his own. Follow him on twitter @telbelsa.
