We All Women Workers
We Entitle the Same Workers' Rights
Part-time workers are:
the employed persons whose normal hours of work are less than full-time workers. 		Homeworkers are:
carrying out work at home or premises of their own choice, work for remuneration, resulting in a product or services specified by the employer.
We denounce the expansion of the casualisation and flexibilisation of work pattern, not for workers interests and free choice, but for business profits. We denounce the company to retrench regular workers and replace them with casual and flexible forms of workers, including part-time workers, homeworkers, contract workers and dispatch workers, etc. Women workers are always the first target!

We call on the governments to commit themselves to protect women workers rights, particularly in the reality of casualisation and flexibilisation of women labour force that aggravate the exploitation of women workers.

We demand the governments :

  • to immediately ratify the International Labour Convention on Part-time workers, No. 175 and Convention on Home Work, No.177;
  • to establish national policies, laws and regulations according to the ILO conventions to guarantee the legal rights as part-time workers and homeworkers;
  • to implement these policies, laws and regulations at local level to ensure that part-time and homeworkers' rights are protected;
  • to set up an effective and active mechanism to inspect, monitor and ensure the practice and protection to casual and flexible workers;
  • adequate remedies, including penalties, for violation of these laws and regulations shall be provided for and effectively applied.

All Workers Unite and Fight for Our Rights

International Labour Convention Specify Our Same Rights to:

  • organise and collective bargaining;
  • occupational health and safety (OHS) protection;
  • against discrimination in employment and occupation;
  • social security protection;
  • maternity protection;
  • protection with respect to termination of employment;
  • access to training;
  • paid annual leave, sick leave and public holidays.
For Part-time Workers:
  • with basic wage calculated proportionately as that of full-time workers;
  • financial compensations or allowances, including over-time pay, as that received by full-time workers;
  • access to welfare facilities and social services of the establishment, taking into account of the special needs of part-time workers;
  • access to productive and freely chosen part-time work which meets the needs of both employers and workers;
  • voluntarily transfer of full-time to part-time work, or vice versa;
  • information on the above protective measures should be disseminated to part-time workers.
For Homeworkers:
  • with remuneration comparable to that received by workers in the enterprise of employers;
  • minimum age for admission to work;
  • for OHS, certain types of work and use of substances prohibited;
  • receiving compensation for costs and time spent, related to home- work, like the use of energy & water, communications and maintenance of machinery & equipment,etc.;
  • kept informed of, in writing:
    • their specific conditions of employment, name and address of employers, scale or rate of remuneration and methods of calculation, type of work to be performed; &
    • guidelines concerning OHS regulations covering work hazards, precautions to be taken, with language understood by homeworkers;
  • provided of necessary training regarding OHS, appropriate and properly maintained safety devices and any necessary personal protective equipment, free of charge.
Photo from ILO Publication
Photo from ILO Publication of a Homebased Worker in Thailand		 Photo from ILO Publication
Photo from ILO Publication: Poor working condition of beedi rollers in India

How You Can Join the Campaign?

  1. We encourage the local groups and CAW's network groups to translate some of the information into local languages and distribute among women workers and the public, including the government and employers to raise their awareness.

  2. We encourage the local women workers groups and CAW's network groups to organise meetings among women workers who are part-time workers or homebased workers to discuss about their problems, what to do (strategy and actions) and their demands on government and employers. You can make use of the information in the AWWN, the leaflet and the signature campaign sheet.

  3. To collect as many signatures as possible (from individuals or organisations) to support the campaign, sign in the A-4 size sheet paper (DOWNLOAD the Signature form). (please photo-copy if not enough space). After collecting the signatures, send them to your concerned government authority. Please make a copy of the signatures and send them to CAW secretariat by fax or mail, latest by the end of November, 1998. After CAW secretariat collects all the signatures from different countries, we will make copies and send to the concerned government authorities (including Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and Labour Minister) of all Asian governments and those countries where the signatures coming from, as well as the ILO office, to express our demands. We request you to join and support the campaign which is concerning all grassroots women workers whose rights as workers and as women are deteriorating everyday.

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Asian Women Workers Newsletter