“Children belong in school, not in domestic work”

(April 2010)

Article published in "World of Work", the ILO magazine, of April 2010 (pages 15-16), available on http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_126576.pdf

Thousands of children have been able to escape from domestic work, thanks to an action programme launched by a Tanzanian trade union. The programme may gain fresh impetus if an international standard on domestic work is adopted. Samuel Grumiau, a journalist specializing in trade union matters, sends us this account from the United Republic of Tanzania.

DAR ES SALAAM – A 2006 Tanzanian Government study on the labour force showed that one in five children between 5 and 17 years of age is involved in some type of hazardous work. For girls, domestic work is one of the main forms of exploitation. Most of them are taken to the cities by people who have gained their parents’ confidence by promising wages and schooling. In practice, they often fall victim to the worst kinds of abuse: working for up to 18 hours a day, beaten and humiliated by their employers, sleeping on the floor, denied proper food. Child domestic workers earn no more than US$12 a month – if they are paid at all.

CHODAWU (1) is a trade union which has been campaigning against child domestic labour since it was founded in 1995. Its action has been supported by the ILO’s International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), particularly through time-bound programmes, of which Tanzania was one of the first beneficiaries. One of the first steps taken by CHODAWU is to set up committees against child labour in the areas concerned. These are composed of influential persons within the local communities (teachers, nurses, representatives of the authorities, and so on) and one of their roles is to identify child domestic workers, which is no easy task since the work is done in private houses.

“We start by asking members of the local community if they know of any child domestic workers in their street,” explained Leah Medard, a CHODAWU activist in the Kawe area of Kinon doni district in Dar es Salaam. “If they report a case, a delegation from the committee against child labour goes to the employer’s house to check whether the information is accurate.Well-respected people in the area are part of the team and this helps to open doors. If the persons concerned really are employing a child, we try to make them more aware, explaining that even though employing a minor is illegal, we aren’t there to punish them but simply to help the child. We want to get the message across that children belong in school, not in domestic work.”

Offering employers a helping hand

The employment of children as domestic workers is so widespread in Tanzania that the union prefers to extend a helping hand to employers rather than threaten them with court action. “Arrests and penalties are a matter for the police, not for the unions,” said CHODAWU general secretary Towegale Kiwanga. “We only contact the police in cases of extreme abuse, for example where sexual harassment is involved. Otherwise we prefer to negotiate with the employer to arrive at a situation of decent work if the domestic worker is over 14 years of age, or to ensure that he sends the worker to school if she’s younger.” The pressure exerted by the committees against child labour always has a positive impact. “Even in the rare cases where the employer refuses to release the child, he’ll treat her better because he’ll feel that the community is keeping an eye on him,” emphasized Leah Medard.

Where an agreement is reached with the employer, CHODAWU discusses possible options with the child: to be integrated into the state school system (possibly after a period of catch-up tuition at one of the government centres set up for that purpose), to take courses at one of the three vocational training centres run by the union, or to return to the village of origin. “During the first phase of the project we had more funds for reintegrating children into their villages of origin,” explained Silpha Kapinga, coordinator of CHODAWU action against child labour. “The operations were a joint effort with our representatives in the various regions and with the local authorities, but it’s not easy to monitor these children when they’ve returned home. In the last few years, the vast majority of children formerly engaged in domestic work who received help from our project have preferred to stay in the towns and cities to follow training courses in our centres or go back to school.”

Over 6,000 children have been withdrawn from domestic labour by CHODAWU since 1995. Awareness-raising campaigns have prevented thousands more from being recruited. “In the districts where the programme has been set up, it’s become difficult to find child domestic workers,” Vicky Kanyoka, Africa coordinator for the IUF, was happy to point out. As a result of its efforts against child labour, the union has also been able to raise its public profile and engage in effective lobbying with the Government. CHODAWU has got the legislation to recognize domestics as workers, thereby entitling them to benefits including a minimum wage (from US$48 with a standard employer to US$66 with a diplomat), maternity protection and annual holidays.

In view of the long tradition of exploitation of domestic workers and the individual nature of their employment, the observance of all the rights recognized in Tanzanian legislation is far from being a reality on the ground. “An ILO Convention on domestic work would help us to apply these rights,” emphasized CHODAWU chairman Titus Mlengeya. “It would also raise self-awareness among the workers themselves. They will be internationally recognized as a category of workers that makes an important contribution to the economy and to livelihoods. If the Tanzanian Government ratifies this new standard, nobody will give us odd looks and ask ‘How can you defend domestic servants?’ On the contrary, we will be seen as citizens who are protecting the interests of a group of people who are just as important as anyone else.”

(1) CHODAWU (Conservation, Hotels, Domestic and Allied Workers’ Union) is affiliated to the Trade Union Congress of Tanzania (TUCTA) and, at the international level, to the IUF (International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations).

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                                               A personal story

“When I was 12, I left school to take up domestic work –seven days a week, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., without any breaks. I was earning 15,000 shillings (US$11) a month. I slept on a mattress in my employer’s living room. I wasn’t allowed to eat the same food as the family. They were a couple with three children. The wife was always hitting me and insulting me. The worst jobs were washing the clothes, fetching water and cleaning the toilets. When the

people from the CHODAWU committee against child labour met me in 2008, I hadn’t been paid for three months. I took courses in sewing at one of the CHODAWU centres until December 2009. Since then I’ve been doing odd jobs at the house of a neighbour who’s got a sewing machine – that way I can keep my hand in. If I can’t find a proper job in this field, I’ll go back to domestic work – I’ve no choice, I’m the eldest of four brothers and sisters and my mother’s on her own. If I’d been able to carry on my studies, I’d have liked to become a teacher.”

(Neema Jackson, aged 16)