Gonzalo herman
08/23/2020 - 7:01
- Clarín.com
- Society
Elmira hasn't worked for five months. She made a living as a housekeeper. The coronavirus took away her work, and she is at home, surviving, since the quarantine began. She lives in José León Suárez. She says she's desperate and wants to get back to work as soon as possible. That he can't take the situation anymore. That the money he charges for the Emergency Family Income (IFE) is not enough for him. She cleaned several houses. But without a contract. Her irregular situation made her unable to collect the salary that is due to her by law and that all employers must pay. He searches for them making food and selling what he does to the neighbors. There are also relatives who give her a hand. But her concern is to get back to work. "Even if they gave me the salary, I need to work. That way you can't live any longer," she says.
The truth is that no one knows when Elmira, like all domestic workers, will go back to work. It is one of the few items that has been frozen since the beginning of the quarantine. The Buenos Aires government assures that there are no dates for a possible return to work . "The problem is transportation, which is restricted. As they are not essential workers, their mobility is limited," they say.
They also say they are working on a protocol so they can get back to work. "70% of the 77,000 registered employees who work in Capital live in the Province," they say. This would imply, therefore, moving by means of trains, buses and subways. "The idea is to enable a protocol for those who live within the city of Buenos Aires and who move by their own means, thus avoiding the use of public transport", added from the Buenos Aires Ministry of Development and Production.
It is difficult to know how many of them lost their jobs due to the pandemic. The latest records of contributions from the Ministry of Labor show that between February and May, the number of domestic workers declared by employers was reduced from 497,700 to 477,000. 20,700 fewer registered jobs, not counting June and July.
It is estimated that 70% of domestic workers are in black.
When the spokespersons of this portfolio were asked why there were more than 20,000 fewer jobs in the records, they responded: "That is the payment of contributions and contributions that has nothing to do with withdrawals. You can delay in the payment of contributions and the AFIP is going to charge you interest for those payments. But the worker is still registered. Precisely, so that the worker is no longer registered, you have to cancel her in AFIP. "
Given this information, this newspaper asked if it was possible that those employers had stopped contributing because they had cut the service : "Just as they stopped paying other obligations, this may be another, but it does not mean that they are canceled or they will not pay again. services later, when the quarantine is lifted. "
Staff in black
Carlos Brassesco, representative of the House Auxiliary Personnel Union Union, said that the personnel in black represent two-thirds of the domestic workers in the entire country. They estimate that there are 1,400,000 female workers, some 390,000 in the suburbs. In the City, only 30% are blank; in the Province they contribute less, 20%. The rest work irregularly .
Because of this, calculating how many domestic workers lost their jobs in these months is very difficult. Brassesco estimates that between 15,000 and 16,000 formal jobs were lost in these five months. "But the informal ones are much more. We believe that there are some 50,000 female employees who lost their jobs in these months."
As the household cleaning item is not essential, workers have the right to continue receiving their salary even if they do not work. They also receive Emergency Family Income. The fact is, this is respected by employers who have registered domestic workers. In the case of the informal, many do not pay what they owe . "We have received complaints about this. There are also employers who reduced their salary, since they do not work," Brassesco says.
As a consequence of the pandemic, the change of category of many domestic workers also increased. "In the area, only those in category four, which are those that care for children, the elderly or the sick, are considered essential. The rest are not," explains Brassesco.
The quarantine then pushed many women to change categories in order to circulate and get to their jobs. "This is something that is happening. Many times they are forced by employers , who threaten them not to pay them more if they do not go to work," says the attorney.
The truth is also that there are workers who want to go back to work. As in the case of Marta, who asked her employer to go to work the same, despite receiving her salary by staying at home: "I can't be here all day. I need to go back to work. I arranged with them and changed category. to be able to use public transport. It is risky, yes. But it is more important to go to work . "
Faced with this reality, the Buenos Aires government warned that this is prohibited and that both the employees and the employer can be fined if they discover them. "These events must be denounced. And they are a risk for both the workers and the employers," they say.
Another problem is that many employers who have their employees blank are also not working and cannot afford the salary , since their income decreased due to the quarantine. "This is a reality that cannot be denied. We present a proposal to the Ministry of Labor to cover part of the salary that they must contribute to those employers who cannot afford the expense. In general, monotributistas are those who have problems to continue paying a domestic worker. We presented the proposal, but the government did not accept it . "
Martín is one of these employers who could no longer continue to pay his employee. "I have a business, and with the quarantine, my income was reduced a lot. I cannot continue paying the lady who came to the house to clean. I spoke with her because she did not want to leave her in band either. She understood the situation and we agreed that neither I may as well, I'm going to hire her again, "he says.
For Brassesco, the situation in the cleaning sector is very bad. "Unfortunately we do not know when they will be able to go back to work. In the AMBA area we have to wait, at least, until September. But even so, there are no guarantees of anything. In the rest of the country, there are provinces where the workers have already returned to their jobs. However, in others like Jujuy, which returned to phase one, everything was cut off again. "
ACE