Big pay rise for domestics

Domestic workers might be in for a 60% wage increase if their union gets its way.

The Domestic Service and Allied Workers Union is preparing to meet Department of Labour officials on May 14 to argue that the minimum monthly wage of about R1500 for domestic workers in urban areas should be increased to R2500 across the country.

The union's general secretary, Myrtle Witbooi, said she expected employers to "blow up" at this proposal but she believed it was reasonable.

"R2500 is what we are putting forward. Of course, employers will have a chance to give their input. We also want this to be the minimum wage for workers in the urban and rural areas." she said

"Currently, the minimum wage in some rural areas is less than the minimum in cities. We believe all domestic workers do the same job and that those in rural areas are usually exploited more."

The union will also attack the hourly rate of part-time workers, between R6 and R8, depending on where they work.

Said Witbooi: "This is ridiculous. They would spend more than [their] daily wages for travelling. We think that is unfair. Some employers use this figure because it has been gazetted."

Though South Africa has progressive labour laws to protect domestic workers, enforcement of them is said to be inadequate.

Witbooi said there were only 20 to 30 inspectors in the country to ensure that domestic workers were being paid the minimum wage and were registered with the Unemployment Insurance Fund.

The union's president, Hester Stephens, is a full-time domestic worker from the Cape Town suburb of Kenilworth. She is paid R1600 a month and says she has been working "happily" for the same employer since 1991.

"I cannot understand how the government can expect domestic workers to live on minimum wages such as this. Domestic workers contribute to the economy of this country but we don't get recognition.

"Is it because we live in the back yards of our employers? I would like the minister of labour to swap salaries with me and then go shopping with my money. I would like to see what happens," she said.

Volkmar Krieg, business development manager of a domestic worker recruitment and placement agency, is worried about the union's proposal.

"This does not sound as if it is a balance between what the employer can afford and what the worker can supply," he said.

Workers from his agency, who earned salaries in the region of R2500, generally had matric and several skills, including first aid.

Top-earning domestic workers, he said, earned about R4500 a month and had skills including specialised cooking, table setting, flower arrangement, security, frail care and child-minding.

Labour Department chief director Thembinkosi Mkalipi said the department would not make a decision based solely on the union's proposal, but would consider its effect on the labour market.