Projet de loi portant assentiment à la Convention n° 189 concernant le travail décent pour les travailleuses et travailleurs domestiques, adoptée à Genève le 16 juin 2011 par la Conférence internationale du travail à sa 100e session.
General information ¶
- Submitted by
-
The Senate
- Submission date
- Sept. 5, 2013
- Official page
- Visit
- Status
- Adopted
- Requirement
- Simple
- Subjects
- International Labour Conference work working conditions service occupation international agreement
Voting ¶
- Voted to adopt
- Groen CD&V Vooruit Ecolo LE PS | SP ∉ Open Vld N-VA LDD MR VB
Contact form ¶
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Discussion ¶
Dec. 5, 2013 | Plenary session (Chamber of representatives)
Full source
President André Flahaut ⚙
by Mr. Tuybens is the rapporteur. He promised to be very short. I was not able to convince him to return to his written report. It is obstinate. There were persistent people before; here is the persistent now!
Rapporteur Bruno Tuybens ⚙
The committee discussed this bill only yesterday. Referring to the written report would be a little disrespectful, but I will be very short.
The Convention No. 189 provides specific protection to the home staff. Such personnel should, like all other workers, enjoy measures to safeguard freedom of association. In addition, domestic workers are also covered by the elimination of all forms of forced labour, the effective abolition of child labour, the elimination of discrimination in employment, equality in working hours, holidays, protection against abuse and the like. There are also rules on payment methods. Homeworkers have the right to a healthy and safe working environment.
The Treaty requires Member States to ensure compliance with the law, in particular by establishing complaint mechanisms and imposing sanctions.
The bill was unanimously approved.
Mr Valkeniers points out that the home staff currently primarily works for diplomats and the many international expats in Belgium and in the private sector. In Eastern Europe, the Middle East and the Far East there is much more home staff. House staff members are often exploited.
Mr De Croo asks whether the service cheque regime also applies to domestic staff.
Mr Deseyn asks whether Belgium is held to certain deadlines on the international level. He welcomes the fact that the treaty can only increase respect for domestic staff. He believes that Belgium should be an example in this regard. He wants to know what the legal status of au pairs is.
Mr. Blanchart wants to know what the concrete added value of the treaty in our country itself is.
I myself emphasized Belgium’s commitment to international solidarity. ABVV and FOS have recently launched another campaign for the social protection of domestic workers in Venezuela. The Convention sets out conditions aimed at ensuring decent work for domestic staff.
Georges Dallemagne points out that the number of cases of abuse of domestic staff is very high and wants to know what Belgium will do to find the convention universally applicable, including through bilateral agreements.
Ms Demol stressed, on behalf of the N-VA group, that the treaty needs to be ratified quickly so that our country can continue to fulfill its role as an example.
Mr Vanackere points out that Belgium is very active in the theme of decent work and strongly advocates that our country condemn any abuse of domestic staff.
The Minister’s Representative stresses that the Convention in Belgium will apply to the domestic staff in the private sector and the domestic staff employed at numerous diplomatic missions in our country. Furthermore, better coordination is necessary in order to deal more effectively with the complaints submitted, as diplomatic integrity is often invoked. Finally, he highlights the difference between the bilateral investment agreements and the relevant treaty.
Regarding my group, I would like to comment on one point. They also asked how many countries have already ratified the Convention. There are currently a dozen, including two EU countries, mainly Italy and Germany. The Minister requested that the Joint Agreement be ratified as soon as possible, so that the Communities can complete their ratification process faster. Therefore, she hopes that the decision today will support the states in that intent.