The Minister of Labor has come out in favor of approving Agreement Number 189 of the General Conference of the International Labor Organization (ILO) dated 16 June 2011. Maritza Hernandez said she believes that approving this agreement would strengthen the legal dispositions in benefit of domestic servants in the Dominican Republic.
She stressed that the Ministry of Labor’s objective is to promote the human rights of all domestic workers in the country, in order to establish decent working conditions, salaries and working hours from the moment they are hired. The Minister was addressing the Chamber of Deputies Labor and Social Security Commission and the Foreign Relations and the International Cooperation Commission. The chairs of the commissions, Radhames Fortuna and Minou Tavarez Mirabal, also consulted with Hernandez on the Agreement regarding Social Security, Minimum Level, 1952, adopted by the ILO in Geneva on 28 June 1952.
Nevertheless, the Dominican Republic Management Confederation (Copardom) called on the Chamber of Deputies to reject the ratification of ILO Agreement 89 on the grounds that it contradicted the Constitution of the Republic. Copardom also pointed out that the objectives of guaranteeing social security for this segment of the labor force would not be achieved at this time. Copardom president Jaime Gonzalez told the commissions of deputies that ILO Agreement 189 allocates the task of visiting and inspecting the family home in order to ensure the fulfillment of domestic labor regulations to Labor Ministry inspectors, which he said was totally opposed to Literal A of Article 44 of the Constitution of the Republic that establishes the Right to Privacy and Personal Honor.