In the framework of the global trade union side event at CSW69, entitled "Women's Labor Rights, Social Justice and Democracy," Christina McAnea, General Secretary of UNISON, highlighted the urgency of recognizing care as an autonomous human right and the need to strengthen public services to guarantee decent working conditions for those who perform this essential function.

The meeting, which took place on Friday, March 14, brought together women union leaders, government representatives and representatives of international organizations to discuss the impact of the current crises on women's labor rights and propose strategies for their protection. The discussion focused on the growing threats to human and labor rights, the need to strengthen public services and the urgency of policies that recognize care as a fundamental right.

The trade union struggle for the dignity of care work

McAnea, a representative of the UK's largest trade union and Public Services International (PSI), stressed that PSI has historically advocated for the recognition of care as a human right that should not be conditional on the realization of other rights. In this context, he referred to two key approaches in the international arena: the advisory opinion currently held by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) and the framework developed by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. While the latter links the right to care with the guarantee of other rights, the IACHR has deferred its pronouncement on whether it should be recognized as an autonomous right.

In her intervention, McAnea emphasized that the privatization of care services has generated an increasing precariousness of the workers in the sector. "When services are not public, companies and corporations put their interests before the rights of workers, who face inadequate working conditions, low levels of professionalization and, in many cases, are not even legally recognized as formal workers," she said. This lack of protection, she added, leaves many workers without access to basic labor rights, exposed to violence and abuse.

One of the most pressing issues she addressed was the situation of migrant care workers, many of whom face visa restrictions that tie them to their employers, exposing them to extremely exploitative conditions. "Migrant workers have visa restrictions, the employer is the sponsor, and they are brought into the country with promises that are not kept, including even the conditions in which they are housed, sharing beds in the spaces where they also work," she denounced.

To address these challenges, McAnea presented the work UNISON is doing with the British government to create a National Care Service, an initiative that seeks to establish minimum standards for all workers in the sector, regardless of whether their employment is in the public, private or not-for-profit sector. "As the largest union in the country, we are working with the government to establish that care should be built as a national system and that workers in the sector have minimum standards, including pay, applicable across the sector," she explained.

A debate with global perspectives

The event included the participation of Gloria de la Fuente González, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile, who highlighted the importance of public policies to guarantee equal labor rights; Mary Ann Abunda, of the International Domestic Workers Federation, who denounced the exploitation of domestic workers in different countries; and Sweeta Azimi, of the National Union of Workers and Employees of Afghanistan, who addressed the crisis of labor rights in contexts of conflict.

Emanuela Pozzan, of the International Labor Organization (ILO), highlighted the role of international standards in protecting the rights of women workers, while Jessica Isbister, of the International Transport Workers' Federation, stressed the need to improve safety and working conditions for women in historically precarious sectors.

Among the governmental speakers, Lord Collins of Highbury, representative of the United Kingdom, emphasized the importance of legislation to combat gender-based violence in the workplace, while Nadine Molloy, from Education International, presented strategies to eradicate discrimination in the education sector.

The event closed with interventions by Jemimah Njuki, from UN Women, and Dino Corell, from the ILO, who agreed on the urgency of transforming these debates into concrete public policies.