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Can Mexicos on-demand economy improve the conditionsof its domestic workers?

Dhruv Jain

Mexico has an estimated 2.3 milliondomestic workers, the largestgroup of informal workers in the country, and more than 90 percentare women.Like many of their counterparts around the world,Mexican domestic workers are grossly underpaid without any socialsecurity and work up to 1 hours a day. !early one out of "#ereports mistreatment and sexual a$use. Mexico #oted in fa#or of the%nternational La$our &rgani'ation(s )on#ention on *omestic+orkers$ut has yet to ratify it, signalling a lack of commitment tothe issue.

wo distinct institutions ha#e emerged to address the low pay andpoor working conditions of domestic workers- %!/)/&indicato !acional de ra$aadoras del ogar4, the country(s "rstdomestic workers( union, and /liada, an on5demand housekeepingser#ice. +hile $oth intend to impro#e domestic workers( li#elihoods,they represent #ery di6erent approaches to change- one, a politicalmo#ement $ased on mo$ili'ation of workers and demanding moreof the state, and the other a pri#ate sector solution $ased on 21stcentury technology.

/re these approaches complementary or contradictory7 +hich ofthe two will ha#e a greater impact on the welfare of domesticworkers7

%!/)/& demands mandatory access to social security for allworkers and pressures the go#ernment to ratify the $inding%nternational La$or &rganisation )on#ention 189.

/liada, on the other hand, facilitates matching $etween employersand domestic workers through an %nternet5$ased application. Likeother on5demand aggregators, it allows the domestic workers to

choose their location and time of work. /liada workers earn almostthree timesmore than an a#erage domestic worker. he companye#en pro#ides healthcare, monthly $onuses, food supplements andtransportation #ouchers for its workers. /liada is like a sociallyconscious $er for domestic work.

:ach group(s strategy comes with ad#antages and draw$acks.

he union(s success in ad#ancing the rights of workers is ultimatelydependent on its strength and perse#erance. Mo#ements of this

kind re;uire patience, and domestic workers may not ha#e the timeto enter a long haul "ght with the Mexican state. &n the other hand,

https://news.vice.com/article/mexico-imagines-a-union-for-23-million-domestic-maids-but-could-it-workhttp://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/nov/10/mexico-city-domestic-workers-life-lesser-personhttp://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/nov/10/mexico-city-domestic-workers-life-lesser-personhttp://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2011/11/23/report-millions-domestic-workers-in-mexico-subjected-to-abuse/http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:C189http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:C189http://www.solidaritycenter.org/first-ever-domestic-workers-union-launched-in-mexico/https://aliada.mx/http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:C189http://techcrunch.com/2015/05/15/aliada-a-housekeeping-service-with-a-social-justice-slant-raises-800000/http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/nov/10/mexico-city-domestic-workers-life-lesser-personhttp://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/nov/10/mexico-city-domestic-workers-life-lesser-personhttp://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2011/11/23/report-millions-domestic-workers-in-mexico-subjected-to-abuse/http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:C189http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:C189http://www.solidaritycenter.org/first-ever-domestic-workers-union-launched-in-mexico/https://aliada.mx/http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:C189http://techcrunch.com/2015/05/15/aliada-a-housekeeping-service-with-a-social-justice-slant-raises-800000/https://news.vice.com/article/mexico-imagines-a-union-for-23-million-domestic-maids-but-could-it-work

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if %!/)/& pre#ails in pressuring the go#ernment to ratify thecon#ention, the extension of rights will apply to all domesticworkers, not only union mem$ers.

he on5demand approach might $e a ;uicker solution. *omestic

workers who gain access to the /liada app immediately impro#etheir earning potential and their working conditions.