Paschim Bango Griho Paricharika Samity (PGPS), a state-level domestic workers’ collective from West Bengal, recently started a ground-breaking initiative towards deepening the engagement between domestic workers and their employers. As part of this initiative, a ‘Fair Employer’ certificate is being presented by domestic workers to their respective employers who are ensuring decent wages and working conditions for them, including weekly offs and bonuses. Over the last three months that this initiative has been running for, nearly 2,000 employers have been recognized by domestic workers as ‘Fair employers’ in the state.

Starting October 2018, PGPS has been facilitating one-on-one interactions between domestic workers and their employers to enable domestic workers to share their experiences related to the work-place and the issues that they face. Earlier this year, in May, PGPS had been granted trade union status by the Government of West Bengal. Set up in 2015 as a collective with support from Sristy for Human Society, Society for People’s Awareness and ActionAid India’s West Bengal Regional Office, PGPS has actively been raising issues related to domestic workers, their recognition as labour, their rights to social protection and dignity, and regulation of their wages and work conditions.

ActionAid India engages with the issue of domestic work across the country including the states of Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and West Bengal.