Standard Setting on Decent Work for Domestic Workers at the ILO
In late March 2008, I got an urgent call from the United Nations’ specialized agency on labor, the International Labour Organization (ILO). To the surprise of many, the ILO’s Governing Body had just adopted a resolution requiring it to prepare to negotiate a new international treaty on decent work for domestic workers. I was asked to serve as the ILO’s lead expert, as part of a process of making domestic work visible. The...