The non-domestication of the International Labour Organisation’s Convention 189 is unsettling stakeholders, with the National Union of Hotels and Personal Services Workers (NUHPSW) insisting that guaranteeing the labour rights of hotel and personal service workers is hinged on its passage.
The General Secretary of the union, Leke Success, argued that there is an urgent need for the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) as the national umbrella body of the labour unions in Nigeria to lead the struggle.
Success, who stated this when he led his team to the NLC headquarters in Abuja, said the support of the NLC President, Joe Ajaero, is critical.
“This mission to the NLC is an advocacy visit to solicit the support of the NLC for the ratification of ILO Convention 189, which gives domestic workers equal rights as other workers. Rights to rest period, hours of work, overtime, freedom of association, paid annual leave, and good terms and conditions of service. Therefore, getting the NLC to amplify our voice in getting the convention ratified is a big deal,” he explained.
He added that ILO Convention 189 is important to NUHPSW, saying the ratification of the convention will legalise the right of hotel and personal service workers to be entitled to paid minimum wage, guarantee job security and protection from domestic violence, dignity of work, as well as rights to collective bargaining
On the 17th of December 2024, the union paid a courtesy call to the Ministry of Labour and Employment highlighting the plight of the domestic workers in Nigeria and solicited assistance in this, which would require invoking section 65 (1) (c) of the Trade Union Act. which gives the Minister of Labour and Employment power to make pronouncements and regulations that include payment of minimum wage to domestic workers like other wage workers in Nigeria.
The scribe of the hotel union disclosed that the bill has indeed passed a second reading, and a public hearing has been held.
Also, the bill is at the second reading stage with the public hearing held in March at the House of Representatives.
He explained that the aspects of his union’s jurisdiction in the informal sector are domestic workers, private security guards, hairdressers, barbers, highway and industrial cleaners, and commercial sex workers.
He disclosed that the working conditions of workers in the hotels and personal services employees are in two categories. The first category concerns those who are unionised, especially in the formal work setup, and are enjoying decent work with good conditions of service. The second category is those other categories of workers who are not unionised and are working in precarious environments.
He added that since the union cannot single-handedly execute the task, it decided to adopt a multidimensional strategy to confront the issue of non-unionisation.
He also stated that the union has engaged a research team to investigate hotels that took facilities from the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Not allowing unionisation is a precondition for granting loans by the Corporation.
Success also hinted that the union is liaising with its international affiliate centre, the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotels, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco, and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF) to provide international framework agreements with major hotel chains, which seek to recognise the unionisation of workers.
In his remarks, Ajaero lauded the union’s efforts at organising the hotel and personal service sub-sector, pledging the support of the central labour body.
“I must commend your efforts in this direction. Though we know that there is a body that has been very focal in organising the informal sector, I am happy that the hotel and personal service union is firmly in charge of the hotel workers and personal service providers. We are ready to work with you, and we will do everything within our power to ensure the passage of the law. This law is very critical to your aspirations.”
Also, a professor of sociology at the University of Abuja, Magdalene Igbolo, who spoke at the presentation of 2024 Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung (RLS) supported research in Nigeria, which took place in Abuja, decried the harrowing experiences domestic workers suffer in the course of their work.
Reviewing a book, ‘Working Conditions and Rights of Domestic Workers in Nigeria’, Igbolo said all the laws that have been made to provide succour to domestic workers have failed to clearly define their rights and status.
With the law undergoing legislative process at the National Assembly, the university lecturer sees hope, saying the consistent efforts of stakeholders that put workers’ rights, human rights and women’s rights as the focus of their action will create a critical momentum that can sustain the establishment and successful integration of domestic workers into the world of decent work.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimated that 76.2 per cent of domestic workers are female. The study also reported that 81 per cent of domestic workers are informally engaged and their wages are only about 56 per cent of the average salary of other workers.
In 2011, the ILO adopted Convention 189, which came into force in 2013 to address the challenges confronting domestic work and workers globally.
The Convention defined domestic work as the rights of domestic workers at work and the right to form their association for collective bargaining.
Despite its adoption, domestic work is inadequately covered by Nigeria’s legislative framework, including the Nigerian Labour Law, which exposes domestic workers to abuses, deprivations and poor working conditions.
