Strong militancy in times of catastrophe: the role of collective action by the domestic service union during the pandemic

Abstract

The book The unions of domestic workers in times of pandemic: memories and resistance builds, in many ways, an analysis of the role of the union movement in the pandemic, which leads to a reflection on its breadth and legacy. Its aim is to reflect on the organization of domestic work and the central role of domestic workers’ unions in the struggle for rights for domestic workers. Due to the specific nature of domestic work, its unionization process was late, being legalized only recently. The book shows how this was possible because it was collectively founded by the struggle of several domestic workers and their networks. During the pandemic, the collective aspects was not changed, but new strategies were developed to adapt to the “new normal”, which aimed to reduce the impact on the lives of workers who were already suffering from precariousness even before this context. The book uses as its methodology the presentation of quantitative data from research carried out by different institutions, and the construction of dialogues that highlight memories and the legacy of collective struggle. In this sense, the discussion presented throughout the eight chapters presents the actions taken by the domestic workers’ unions, which aimed to protect them in catastrophic times, but also to welcome them and guarantee their dignity.