ILO adopts Convention Concerning Decent Work for Domestic Workers

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has adopted a new convention at its 100th annual meeting (16 June 2011): the Convention Concerning Decent Work for Domestic Workers.
 The text of the Convention can be found here:
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@ed_norm/@relconf/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_157836.pdf
 The ILO reports that, while estimates point to 53 million domestic workers (83 percent of whom are girls and women), the total number of domestic workers could be as high as 100 million.
 The Domestic Workers Convention aims at the protection of the rights of domestic workers. Here is an excerpt from the Convention:
 

Article 3
1. Each Member shall take measures to ensure the effective promotion and protection of the human rights of all domestic workers, as set out in this Convention.
2. Each Member shall, in relation to domestic workers, take the measures set out in this Convention to respect, promote and realize the fundamental principles and rights at work, namely:
(a) freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining;
(b) the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labour;
(c) the effective abolition of child labour; and
(d) the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.
3. In taking measures to ensure that domestic workers and employers of domestic workers enjoy freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining, Members shall protect the right of domestic workers and employers of domestic workers to establish and, subject to the rules of the organization concerned, to join organizations, federations and confederations of their own choosing.
 Article 4
1. Each Member shall set a minimum age for domestic workers consistent with the provisions of the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), and the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), and not lower than that established by national laws and regulations for workers generally.
2. Each Member shall take measures to ensure that work performed by domestic workers who are under the age of 18 and above the minimum age of employment does not deprive them of compulsory education, or interfere with opportunities to participate in further education or vocational training. 
Article 5
Each Member shall take measures to ensure that domestic workers enjoy effective protection against all forms of abuse, harassment and violence.
 Article 6
Each Member shall take measures to ensure that domestic workers, like workers generally, enjoy fair terms of employment as well as decent working conditions and, if they reside in the household, decent living conditions that respect their privacy.