Organizing, resisting, and claiming rights: The Collective Mobilization of Migrant Domestic and Care Workers in Spain

Abstract

The outsourcing of domestic work in Spain has been an increasing trend through- out the last 30 years. The emancipation of women, the entrance of women in the labor force, and the lack of family policies that allowed a proper work-family balance played a major role in this phenomenon. The domestic task started then to be taken over im- migrant women both because they were cheaper than local work force and due to the shortage of local workers. In Spain, the proportion of migrant workers working in the domestic sector has surpassed that of native- born, reflecting the common trend where immigrants work over proportionally in jobs with lower wages and less regulated working conditions and rights. These issues have complicated the situation of many immigrant domestic workers who depend for instance on a contract to regularize their situation in the country. In light of the increasing informality in the sector, in 2011 the Spanish government issued a legislation mandating that all employers of domestic workers should provide a work contract and cover the social security costs. Despite the resulting decline of informality in the sector, the working conditions of many migrant domestic workers (documented and undocumented) remain precarious. In recent years, there has been an increasing organization of migrant domestic workers in labor unions and other associations, demanding for better working conditions and more recognition. The literature on the situation, positionality and the policies affect- ing migrant domestic workers in Spain and beyond is vast, however, little has been written on their political mobilization. This thesis looks at the political mobilization and activism of migrant domestic workers in the Spanish context, focusing on the question how do migrant workers in Spain reinforce their agency through political mobilization? For this purpose I apply Katz’s (2004) framework on agency. Through a qualitative analysis with combined methods I identify 36 organizations across the country. The results show that through the associations migrant workers are able to strengthen their agency at different levels.