Jamaican domestic workers deploy Brock research to support advocacy
At a meeting in the office of Jamaica’s Minister of Labour and Social Security on March 17, Brock Associate Professor Simon Black joined General Secretary Shirley Pryce and President Elaine Duncan of the Jamaica Household Workers’ Union at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Minister Pearnel Charles Jr. Also present was Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security Dione Jennings. From left are Jennings, Charles, Duncan, Pryce and Black. Photo courtesy of Michael Sloley.
The Associate Professor of Labour Studies also visited the JWHU back in 2023 to present a report on domestic workers’ rights written in collaboration with Lauren Marsh, Head of Hugh Shearer Labour Studies Institute at the University of the West Indies.
Black says over the years since the report’s original publication, JHWU has used the document as “a tool for advocacy and activism.”
The report, which reflects the experiences of more than 200 domestic workers in Jamaica who participated in Black and Marsh’s research as well as input from government officials, ultimately featured 20 recommendations for improving wages and working conditions and advancing decent work for domestic workers in Jamaica.
Several of these recommendations, for which the union has long advocated, are addressed in the new MOU.
Associate Professor of Labour Studies Simon Black and Jamaica Household Workers’ Union General Secretary Shirley Pryce. Photo courtesy of Michael Sloley.
Associate Professor of Labour Studies Simon Black and Jamaica Household Workers’ Union General Secretary Shirley Pryce. Photo courtesy of Michael Sloley.
Black says he was thrilled to be a witness to the signing of the freshly inked agreement.
“It was a very important moment for me when, in that meeting, the Minister acknowledged that he had read the report and that the MOU will provide a more structured and strategic approach to delivering support to domestic workers, which captures the spirit of many of our recommendations,” he says.
He adds that academics publishing research don’t always have the chance to see the impacts of their work, so the opportunity to take part in the meetings was most welcome.
“Watching the union leadership distribute copies of the report to government officials and seeing that research actually having a demonstrable impact on a group of workers I’ve developed relationships with and have collaborated with for over five years now was so important to me,” says Black.
In addition to a gala and awards ceremony, where Black had a chance to thank union members for their participation in the research and congratulate the union on its advances, he was invited to two government meetings during his stay.
At the Prime Minister’s office, he says he was pleased to join the union’s executive committee, a number of key allies and an American delegation from the National Domestic Workers Alliance that the union had invited to the 35th anniversary celebrations to meet with the Minister of Gender, Culture, Sport and Entertainment and the Minister of Labour and Social Security.
“Working behind closed doors in private households, domestic workers — the vast majority of whom are women — are socially isolated and vulnerable to exploitation and abuse,” says Black. “It was remarkable to see the kind of collective power the JHWU has built through its 35 years of organizing. They literally have a seat at the table with government.”
The report has been recognized by organizations outside Jamaica. When Black recently attended the Canada Caribbean Institute Symposium in Trinidad, he had the opportunity to meet with leaders of the National Union of Domestic Employees to discuss the potential for a similar project to examine the state of domestic workers’ rights in Trinidad and Tobago.
