Recognizing the Plight of the Domestic Laborer

By: Darren Espinoza

May 13, 2013

Before the crack of dawn, Rose is already en route to Pinheiros, São Paulo, a neighborhood known for its weekend antique fair and lively music scene. She arrives to a quiet apartment of five: one mother, one father, one teenage daughter, and two American exchange students still sleeping or indulging in the final minutes of indolence before the start of the work and school day. Rose is an empregada doméstica, and while an English translation would hastily suggest housemaid, I argue that she is much more than someone who mops the floors and does the week’s laundry.

In her middle age with a family of her own, Rose is a hardworking, waggish, and gentle soul, one who does not mind waiting at the door an extra minute—or ten—as my host father saunters to the door each Monday and Thursday morning. Indeed, she is the one who has shown me the true strength and resilience of Brazilian women through her diligence, humor, and irresistibly delicious homemade bolos (a favorite Brazilian dessert). Although there are many reasons to commend her, the fact remains that her low-paying line of work is in need of much more than applause.

According to Cálculo Exatoa, a free, online service that helps to calculate the values and terms of domestic employment in Brazil, the minimum monthly salary in the country’s twenty-eight major cities is roughly R$694.04, or $347.12 (as per Citibank National Association), which pales in comparison to the average monthly salary of R$9,968 across all industries. One could sit and hope that employers, who are predominantly families, would not stoop to such abysmal wage rates, but such optimism can only last so long as Paulistanos (residents of São Paulo) and Cariocas (residents of Rio de Janeiro) alike clinch their pockets as they ride out the upswing of the Brazilian economy. Fortunately for the domestic workers, however, the federal government has not taken a passive stance on the topics of poor working conditions and low wages, especially in recent weeks.

April 27 marked the Dia da Empregada Doméstica (the Day of House Workers) with a host of conferences, open houses, and social action-type gatherings throughout the country. And if there’s anything I have learned over the course of these past four months, it is that Brazilians will celebrate any and every holiday or named event. One group in particular, Viva Cidadão of Praia Grande, provided counseling services for thousands of domestic workers who were unsure about their newly secured rights provided in Domestic’s Proposed Amendment to the Constitution that was passed in the Senate just last week. It is their hope that more empregadas domésticas will recognize the power in numbers, by seeking the guidance of one of the many dwindling sindicatos (unions) or simply an organized resource like Viva.

Just 100 miles away, in another city of São Paulo, the Council for the Rights of Women (CMDM) held a free lecture to increase visibility of its volunteer work and to herald the latest wave of protections for these indefatigable individuals. Dagmar Rubiano Gomes, vice president of the organization, was quoted in a local news article stating, “[translation] Our idea was to honor these female fighters who dedicate themselves to household chores,” and this speaks to those who do much more than fold shirts and dry dishes. The professional category of domestic work is truly multidisciplinary, comprised of cleaners, nannies, cooks, gardeners, chauffeurs, ironers, cottiers, elderly caregivers, hospice workers, and so forth, all of whom will no doubt benefit from these new legislative safeguards.

São Paulo, like an ocean of buildings, is filled with women and men running to and fro in an almost mindless manner trying to make ends meet. On my walk to school each morning I see buses brimming with maids and other workers traversing through the hallucinated city of hills. When I first arrived in São Paulo, some of the first things I noticed were the tiny rooms—almost closets—in the unseen corners of homes that were originally meant to house empregadas domésticas. As competition grew and wages idled, most could not afford to work in a single domicile and began splitting their time and days between houses.

While some empregada rooms have their own bathrooms and modern amenities, I cannot help but sense a veil of inferiority that is cast upon them and their work on a daily basis. I still remember the first day of my Portuguese class when I stopped to kiss the cheek of the empregada who works at my study abroad center. The look of shock on her face when I asked for her name was all the more moving. The culture around her work is not overly malleable, but it is about to change for the better.

As part of the new provisions in the amendment, the workday for the domestic laborer has been set as eight hours with a maximum of 44 hours per week. Overtime pay and night shifts have also been accounted for, but most importantly, the workers will be given compensation in the event of an arbitrary dismissal, provided by O Fundo de Garantia do Tempo de Serviço (FGTS) in order to further stabilize their source of income. At the beginning of each month, employers will deposit 8 percent of the monthly salary of each employee in open accounts, so as to prevent unjust causes of termination. Another consideration of the Domestic’s Proposed Amendment to the Constitution is that of nursing or pregnant empregadas, who will be indemnified during their five days after labor.

It is unclear where the future of domestic labor will head next, but it is encouraging to see such a populist effort gain traction in a country known for problems of income discrimination. Rose may not speak English or read the blog of a Georgetown undergraduate, but I consider this my ode to all of the work she has done on my behalf, satiating the endless needs of a college student’s hunger and being another vital part of my study abroad experience. Her subconscious adoption of cura personalis is beyond inspiring and one of my best Brazilian keepsakes.

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