On 28-29 June 2021, several European organizations representing domestic workers and their employers are hosting a two-day online Conference to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the ILO Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189).

The Conference is organized by a European Multi-Stakeholder Alliance between the ILO, the European Commission, trade unions and employers’ organisations.

To date, eight EU Member States have ratified the Domestic Workers Convention. The issue of improving domestic and care workers’ rights remains more than ever a topical issue. The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted both the essential contributions of those workers to our societies and the precarious working and living conditions a vast majority of them still face.

The speakers will outline best practices and policies to enhance the situation of personal and household services workers.

Interpretation will be provided in English, French, Italian, German, Polish, Romanian and Spanish.

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Agenda

Monday 28 June 2021

Introductory session (10:30 – 12:00)

• Testimony video on the adoption of the Convention by the International Domestic Workers Federation (IDWF)
• Presentation of the C189 Alliance and the event by Aurélie Decker, Director of EFSI
• Nicolas Schmit, European Commissionner for Jobs and Social Rights
• Martha Newton, ILO Deputy Director General for Policy
• Miguel Filipe Pardal Cabrita, Secretary of State for Labour, Vocational Training of Portugal, representing the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union
• Claire Hobden, ILO Technical Officer, Vulnerable workers
• Carlien Scheele, Director at the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE)

Panel 1 – Labour law and social protection frameworks: from regulatory gaps to full recognition of domestic workers’ rights (14:00 – 15:15)

Moderator: Mark Bergfeld, Director of Property Services & UNICARE at UNI Global Union

Participants:

• Video by ACV-CSC – Belgium
• Carmen Grau Pineda Professor de la University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Gema Quintero Lima Professor de la University of Carlos III Madrid – Spain
• Wendy Galarza from Filcams – Italy
• Mehdi Louali from Helpling – France – tbc
• Anna Rosińska, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and Elizabeth Pellerito, Labor Education Program, University of Massachusetts Lowell – United-States
• Concluding video from the DomEQUAL project – tbc

Q&A session with the audience.

Panel 2 – Tackling undeclared work in domestic work: challenges and successful practices (15:45 – 17:00)

Moderator: Kerstin Howald, Political Secretary for Tourism and Domestic Work sectors, EFFAT

Participants:

• Hans Dubois, research manager in the Social Policies unit – Eurofound
• Andrea Zini, President of Assindatcolf – Italy
• Jean-François Lebrun – EU expert on PHS policies – France & Belgium
• Renate Kuhn from DGB – Germany – tbc
• Elodie Fazi, policy officer on undeclared work in DG EMPL’s unit D.1 “Free movement of workers, EURES”
• Representative from the European Labour Authority (ELA)

Q&A session with the audience.

Tuesday 29 June 2021

Panel 3 – Guaranteeing the effective enforcement of domestic workers’ rights (9:00 – 10:15)

Moderator: Karin Pape, Regional coordinator for Europe, IDWF

Participants:

• Vera Pavlou from the University of Glasgow
• Teresa Pargana, Head of Division for Studies Conception and Technical Support to Inspection Activity, Working condition authority (ACT) – Portugal
• Baptiste Lenfant, CEO at Iperia – France
• Peter Van de Veire, Director of the Service Voucher Sectorial Training Fund – Belgium
• Massimo De Luca, Director of DOMINA National Observatory on Domestic Work – Italy
• Raluca Painter, Head of unit “Labour Market, Health and Social Services” at DG REFORM

Q&A session with the audience.

Panel 4 – Digital platforms and domestic workers’ rights (10:45 – 12:00)

Moderator: Thomas Bignal, Policy Manager, EASPD

Participants:

• Adrien Gauthier, ACCOSS – France – tbc
• Representative from YouGenio – Italy – tbc
• Mariaam Bhatti, Director and Co-founder at the Great Care Co-op – Ireland
• Representative from the National Domestic Workers Alliance – United-States
• Dennis True, CEO at Hilfr – Danemark – tbc
• Nikolay Stoyanov, Policy Officer – Future of Work European Commission, Unit Employment Strategy (EMPL.B.1)

Q&A session with the audience.

Panel 5 – Domestic workers & migration (13:30 – 14:45)

Moderator: Aude Boisseuil, General Delegate, EFFE

Participants:

• Lilana Keith, Senior Advocacy Officer, PICUM
• Francesca Alice Vianello, Assistant professor in Sociology of economics and work at University of Padua – Italy
• Anna Ensing, Project leader at FairWork – Netherlands
• Avril Sharp, Policy and Casework officer at Kalayaan – United Kingdom
• Marianne Halle, Centre de contact Suisses-immigrés Genève (CCSI) – Canton of Geneva -Switzerland
• Dr Petra Ezzedine, Researcher at Charles University, Prague

Q&A session with the audience.

Closing session: Improving domestic workers’ rights at European level (15:15 – 17:00)

Moderator: Lieve Verboven, Director of the ILO Office for the European Union and the Benelux countries

Key political recommendations by C189 Alliance partners:

• Philippe Symons, President of EFSI
• Olivier Roethig, UNI Europa Regional Secretary
• Luk Zelderloo EASPD Secretary General
• Marie Béatrice Levaux, EFFE President
• Kristjan Bragason, EFFAT General Secretary
• Myrtle Witbooi, IDWF President
• Michele Levoy, PICUM Director
• Responses and comments by European stakeholders and decision makers
• Mateja Ribič, State Secretary at the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities of the Republic of Slovenia
• Lucia Ďuriš Nicholsonová, Chair of the European Parliament Employment and Social Affairs Committee – tbc
• Evelyn Regner, Chair of the European Parliament Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality
• Jan Willem GOUDRIAAN, EPSU General Secretary
• Jordi Curell Gotor, Director Labour Mobility (EMPL.D) at the European Commission

A more detailed agenda is available here.