Domestic Workers : Assuring Their Due Remuneration, Consideration

The celebration of the International Domestic Workers’ Day in Yaounde on June 16, 2023 was jointly organised by the Confederation Camerounaise du Travail, CCT trade union and the International Labour Organisation, ILO Cameroon Country Office. They were joined in the organisation by domestic labour associations such as Act Together, ASDAM and Horizons Femmes.

This All-Important Convention!
The celebration focused on the urgency for Cameroon to ratify Convention No. 189 on Domestic Labour. CCT President, Mrs. Ekoan Antoinette recalled that her trade union and partner organisations have been involved in a nationwide awareness campaign on the rights of domestic workers since January 2023. In addition, she said, seven days of activism on domestic labour rights were launched as from June 16, 2023. During which they will lobby National Assembly and Senate members on the need for Cameroon to ratify the ILO Convention No. 189. 

Taking So Long!
Ekoan recalled that the convention was passed way back in 2011, with Cameroon chairing. “But decades after, our country is yet to ratify this important convention,” she noted with regret. She appealed to Members of Parliament and Senators to help them present this all-important cause for a possible change of attitude by the authorities. 

What MPs Can Offer
“An important international convention on domestic labour is still to be ratified by Cameroon. It is the responsibility of parliamentarians to lobby government to get this convention ratified by Parliament. We intend to meet the Minister of Labour and Social Security to find out what is preventing the convention from being sent to Parliament by the Head of State for ratification,” Hon. Koupit Adamou, CDU Member of Parliament from Noun Division of West Region, promised.

Lobby, Lobby, Lobby….
“We also realized that the presidential decree of 1968 on domestic work requires updating. This also depends on the Head of State, but we can lobby the Minister concerned to carry out the revision and forward it to the President for assent and signature,” Hon. Koupit added.

Their Lot, Our Great Concern
“On this occasion of the commemoration of this year’s International Domestic Workers’ Day on June 16, our advocacy to parliamentarians is to help us ratify Convention No. 189 on Domestic Labour. Its ratification will greatly improve the lot of domestic workers in Cameroon in terms of respect of the norms of domestic work; especially as the legal framework is obsolete,” commented Mrs. Zeck Nadoye Beatrice, President of Act Together, which is active in Northern Cameroon. 

Respect Minimum Wage!
According to her, the Labour Code does not give room for certain provisions for domestic workers. “Thus, our advocacy is also for better treatment of domestic workers with regards to the national minimum wage, which is still not respected by many employers of domestic labour. Our cry is for the wholesale review of all laws on domestic work in Cameroon,” Zeck explained.

Role Of The Elite 
“To the elite of Northern Cameroon, our message is for them to encourage people to accept domestic work like any other profession. Domestic work in the area has for a very long time been considered as a means of subsistence to enable workers make ends meet. We would like the elite to raise their voices in support of the implementation of the minimum wage of domestic workers. Let them ensure that domestic workers have duly signed work contracts and are registered with the National Social Insurance Fund. Domestic workers should not be used as slaves,” Mrs. Zeck Nadoye Beatrice pleaded.

ILO’s Concerns  
According to Dr Arlette Bwaka Bikoula of the International Labour Organisation Cameroon Country Office, domestic work deserves respect. “The ILO would like to see a change in the perception by the public of the services of domestic workers. Families should treat their domestic workers decently because they benefit from ...