Victories for domestic workers in Mexico and Jordan

By Tula Conell (Solidarity Center)

Dozens of union members and their allies from across Mexico gathered in September 2015 to celebrate the official launch of the country’s first domestic workers’ union, SINACTTRAHO. The union’s formation culminated a 15-year struggle for rights on the job by those whose work often goes unrecognized, and today’s events marked the union filing for official government recognition.

Read more about this labour victory in Mexico here.

In Jordan, Domestic workers are set to celebrate the official formation of a worker rights network that includes migrant workers from Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. This launch is a first in Jordan and a rare move in the Arab region, where more than 2.4 million migrant domestic workers often toil 12–20 hour days, six or seven days a week cleaning homes, preparing meals and caring for children and the elderly. Migrant workers in Jordan, like in many countries in the Middle East and elsewhere, cannot form unions to improve their working conditions.

Read more about this labour victory in Jordan here.