Feminist trade unionism, domestic work and care.

A conversation with Amalia Caballero, Constanza Cisneros and Sofía Pérez (members of the Feminist Assembly for 189)

Abstract

The text is a conversation with three activists for domestic and care work, members of the Feminist Assembly for Convention 189 in Madrid.In the course of the conversation, some of the key aspects of this struggle are discussed: the road travelled to date, the achievements made and the challenges that lie ahead following the ratification by the government, in 2022, of Convention 189 of the International Labour Organisation - a framework that establishes the basic rights and principles for employment in this sector. Thus, at least three main axes can be identified in his reflections. The first corresponds to scenes from the long process of struggle for the improvement of the conditions of domestic work and the evolution of the legislative framework that regulates it. The second refers to the progressive shaping of a feminist trade unionism as a way of understanding and acting politically. This mode involves a way of understanding alliances, practices and political imagination, the relationship with traditional trade unions, as well as the objectives and scope of demands. The third of these axes deals with the exploration of the foundations of the struggle in the field of public policy. But if there is one thing that runs through the entire discourse of these activists, it is the realisation that their demands are deployed in multiple dimensions of life, far beyond the boundaries of labour.