Past Day Off Campaign

Everyone needs a day off, but most domestic workers are not given one by  their employers. The Working Committee 2 (now re-named into Transient Workers Count Too) recognised this as a vital issue for the wellbeing of foreign domestic workers in Singapore and decided to launch a 'SUNDAYS OFF' campaign. Its aim was to encourage more employers to give their domestic workers a day off each week. Sunday is the usual choice for those who already have a day off. This is when there are the best chances to socialise and go to training courses, classes and entertainments intended for domestic workers and that was why we decided to focus on ‘SUNDAYS OFF’.

Later, we re-thought this. There are both employers and domestic workers who might find it suits them more for the workers to take another day of the week off rather than a Sunday, and so Transient Workers Count Too adapted and went forward with a ‘DAYS OFF CAMPAIGN’.

We have tried to project the case for a regular day off to interested parties and the wider public through sustained efforts since 2003. In November 2003, The Working Committee 2 produced a draft bill concerning foreign domestic workers that included a clause that said they must have at least two days off each month. This was given to the Ministry of Manpower. In press releases, interviews and letters to the media, we have repeatedly raised the issue.

Over a hundred letters containing our proposal were sent out to residents’ committees, but few replied. One agreed, and later two more. Day off block parties were held, the first of which, partnered by Kampong Ubi Greenville RC, was the most successful. An effort to arrange further block parties in 2005 was fruitless; no partners could be found.

TWC2 remains unwavering in its belief in the necessity for domestic workers to have a weekly day off. This goal is chiefly being pursued through the written and spoken word at present: we invite all who share our belief that 'Everyone needs a day off' and that 'everyone' includes domestic workers to add your voices to ours.

We believe that the campaigning work TWC2 undertook on this issue has had some success. The arguments in favour of a regular day off for domestic workers that TWC2 has advanced have achieved a wide currency; little by little, public opinion and national policies on the issue are changing.

The Campaign Today

'A Day Off for All': a talk from November 2007, click here. Remarks by TWC2 president, John Gee, at a forum organised by students at National University of Singapore, 9th November 2007, on 'The Maltreatment of Migrant Workers: Myths, Causes and Consequences'.

Despite the difficulties in finding partners for local 'DAY OFF' activities, TWC2 has continued to raise the issue in letters and comments to the media and in exchanges with employers and employment agencies. We have consistently stressed the central importance of a regular day off for the health and wellbeing of workers and for their access to help and advice. The point was made strongly in a letter to ASEAN leaders before their summit in Singapore in November 2007, and it was at this time that TWC2 decided to support the Asia-wide grouping, United for Foreign Domestic Workers, which is campaigning for a weekly paid day off for all domestic workers in Asia.

A return to street-level work came when the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME) and TWC2 presented the day off campaign for International Migrants' Day 2007 through a flyering effort in Orchard Road, Singapore's premier shopping area. Volunteers wearing 'DAY OFF' T-shirts spread out along the road on the busy pre-Christmas Saturday of 15 December. They distributed 2000 'DOMESTIC WORKERS NEED THEIR DAYS OFF TOO' postcards, along with an information brochure that responded to the common concerns voiced by employers about the day off issue.

The postcard has information on courses available for domestic workers to take on Sundays ranging from English lessons and sewing to money management courses.

THINGS TO DOWNLOAD 

To download the campaign postcard click here - dayoffpostcard.jpg