Organizing Migrant Domestic Workers; the challenges for a trade union in Malaysia

Abstract

This thesis focuses on the contribution a trade union can make to organizing the informal sector in Malaysia, focusing more specifically on the migrant domestic worker industry. Based on a three month fieldwork, an analysis has been made of the self-organization by migrant domestic workers as well as labour organizations and affiliated NGOs. Data shows that there are numerous challenges and constraints ahead for establishing a trade union for this group of female migrant domestic workers. Domestic work in Malaysia has been taken up by migrant women from neighbouring countries who have stepped into the void in the households of Malaysian women, who have increasingly joined the public workforce. However, domestic work is not included as work in Malaysian labour laws and domestic workers are therefore described as servants rather than workers. Together with their migrant status, these migrant domestic workers enjoy no social security and protection. Negative perceptions on domestic work and its workers have rooted in Malaysian society that have been shaped by colonial history, ethnic diversity, the media and the Malaysian government’s favouritism of Malaysian citizens. These elements pose challenges that a trade union is able to overcome with the help of innovative strategies. However, organizing migrant domestic workers is constrained by the limited time, mobility and knowledge that the workers have. The slow reform and the restrictions on the trade union movement by the authoritarian state are obstructing the formation of a trade union for migrant domestic workers, leaving current state of affairs of maltreatment and poor working conditions unrecognized and unanswered. Despite these obstructions, a trade union can contribute. It requires innovative strategies in creating awareness in Malaysian society, involvement of the workers in union activities, trade unions close national and transnational partnerships with other unions, employers and recruitment agencies in the industry.