Domestic helps seek wage board, better conditions

GURUGRAM: Domestic workers from across the city gathered at the mini secretariat on Tuesday for a protest, demanding better working conditions and a wage board.
According to members of Gharelu Kamgar Union, the organiser of the protest, there are over 10,000 domestic workers in Gurgaon who work in upscale residential neighbourhoods, but are regularly denied their basic rights.“The main idea behind the protest was to seek the district administration’s intervention for the welfare of domestic workers in the city. Our main demand is the formation of a wage board for domestic workers, so that there is uniformity in their wages,” said Maya John, convener, Gharelu Kamgar Union.
She added that across the city, there is no parity as far as wages of domestic workers is concerned. While someone is getting Rs 1,200, another domestic help gets Rs 4,000 for the same work.
“I was working in Magnolias for Rs 16,000, whereas other people were getting paid Rs 20,000 for the same job, hence I quit,” said Priya Boro, one of the domestic workers who took part in the protest.
Another big problem workers said they face is that they are banned from societies as soon as they have any kind of altercation with one of the residents or the employer.
“These employers dictate terms and conditions, forcing domestic workers to do forced labour,” said John. Members of the union also submitted a list of their demands to the district administration through the city magistrate Manisha Sharma, as the deputy commissioner was unavailable.
When approached on the matter, deputy commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh said, “I have not yet seen their petition and will be only able to comment on the matter after going through their concerns.”
Workers said they have to face daily problems due to the state’s apathy and lack of measures to ensure their basic rights. Irregular payment of wages, making them do extra chores than agreed, the practice of arbitrarily reducing wages and not allowing weekly off and sick leave, are some of the major problems faced by them.
Apart from these problems, the protesters said employers often don’t pay them by simply stopping their access to a housing society. Physical assault by employers is also a common practice.