The German RESPECT-network was founded in Berlin at a meeting of migrants' organisations and counselling services in February 2000. The network consists of projects and organisations that are concerned with the working conditions of migrants in private households and in the cleaning industry, irrespective of their residence status.
2000: the founding of the RESPECT-network
Status Quo in Germany many women without a residence permit work in private households the restrictive immigration regulation pushes the migrants into these areas of work in contrast to other countries, there is no possibility to enter Germany legally as a domestic worker and obtain residence and work permit (the only exception is a special regulation for the nursing staff from Eastern Europe) the state does not want to introduce arrangements to to grant permanent legal status to all undocumented migrants of undocumented persons like they exist in other European countries the attitude of the public, the media and the trade unions towards the issue of migrants' working conditions is for the most part negative and focused on the "illegality"
2002: protest agaist the new immigration law
At the second nationwide RESPECT meeting in Berlin 2002 a joint protest declaration agaist the planned immigration law in Germany was passed.
Political demands domestic work should be recognised as socially important work and be made visible the sexist and racist attributions in the labout market should be done away with, and a political debate on the social division of domestic and caring work should be started working and human rights should be guaranteed to everybody and it should be possible to assert these rights, irrespective of the residence status access to health care, education, kindergartens and schools for everybody documents, open borders and respect for everybody
The signatories of the RESPECT-network Germany: agisra e.V. (working group against international sexist and racist exploitation) / Köln; FiM e.V. (women's rights are human rights) / Frankfurt am Main; IMRADIVA (initiative of brasilian women against discrimination), KOFIZA (contact and information centre for women of Africa, Asia and Latin America) / Nürnberg; Papiere für alle – FrauenLesbenbündnis gegen Rassismus und Illegalisierung (Documents for everybody – association of women/lesbians against racism and illegalisation) / Berlin; RESPECT-Initiative / Berlin; SoLatina / Berlin; S.U.S.I. – Interkulturelles Frauenzentrum (intercultural women's centre) / Berlin; ZAPO (centre for commuting migrants from Eastern Europe) / Berlin; and others
RESPECT in Berlin
"We, the undocumented, are living de facto without any legal protection and if the authorities get us, it is most probable that we get deported into absolute misery! For the right to legalisation!" (Mujeres sin rostro / Women without faces)
RESPECT-Initiative Berlin: Muchachas no more!
The RESPECT-Initiative Berlin is a free association of women, founded in 1999. The goal is on the one hand practical cooperation with migrants' groups, on the other hand political work regarding working conditions in private households and feminist perspectives on reproductive work and globalisation.
Activities from 2000 to 2003
coordination of the nationwide meetings of the RESPECT-network in 2000 and 2002 participation in the organisation of campaigns and public actions, e.g. the Offensive for a Right on Legalisation 2003 translation and publishing of adviser brochures in Germany lectures and discussion rounds in Germany and abroad participation and contributions to the European coordination meetings articles in daily and weekly newspapers as well as in political and academic publications expositions of the group Mujeres sin rostro / Women without faces since 2002 film, video and audio productions, theatre workshop
Networking
The RESPECT-Initiative Berlin is linked up with other projects in Berlin, such as Papiere für alle – FrauenLesbenbündnis gegen Rassismus und Illegalisierung (Documents for everybody – association of women/lesbians against racism and illegalisation), ZAPO, SoLatina, Gesellschaft für Legalisierung (Society for legalisation).
Mujeres sin rostro / Women without faces
Since 2002 the RESPEct-Initiative Berlin cooperates closely with the group Mujeres sin rostro / Women without faces, a self-organised network of undocumented women in Berlin.
Campaigns and demands
The UN Convention on the protection of migrant workers One foundation of our demands and campaigns is the international convention on the protection of the rights of migrant workers and their families which was ratified in 2003 as a result of the pressure from the International Trade Union Movement in the UNO. The convention obliges the states to ensure to all migrants within their territory – regardless of their resident status - the same rights as citizens have with regard to public services in education and health care. Working rights are given a clear priority over the nation state residence permits. However, until now the agreement has been signed only by the countries of emigration but not by countries of immigration such as USA and EU.
Organisation in trade unions
Since 2002 the RESPECT-Initiative Berlin and Mujeres sin rostro / Women without faces are intensively making contact with the trade unions in order to achieve the representation of undocumented people in the labour organisations. For this purpose talks, discussion rounds and actions have been carried out.
Demands on ver.di (services trade union)
On the occasion of the first nationwide congress of the services trade union ver.di in October 2003 the following catalogue of demands was drawn up:
ver.di should actively address workers in irregular employment relations; in order to respond to their special living conditions, ressources should be made available, such as service centres for counseling and legal protection as well as staff for organising workers independently from the workplace. admission formalities and fees must be changed and adapted in order to ensure – multilingual - access for people without residence documents or without a bank account and with an irregular income that hardly secures livelihood. active representation of working rights and social minimum standards for undocumented people in the politics and the society as well as in the trade union's own education work; pressuring the government to ratify the UN convention. especially for the areas of domestic and care work as well as sex work: development of new forms of interest enforcement in the workers' struggles against wages that are below the standard rates, against non-payment or withholding of wages and against working conditions that are detrimental to their health.
"We are performing indispensable work here, we clean and look after children so that the German women can fulfil themselves. We are also colleagues." (Mujeres sin rostro / Women without faces)
RESPECT in Europe
RESPECT stands for Rights, Equality, Solidarity, Power, Europe Corporation Today. It is a European network of migrant domestic workers' organisations, individuals, and supporters, that campaigns for the rights of women and men working in private households in EU countries. RESPECT supports its members’ campaigns and facilitates the sharing of experience and expertise in campaigning, organising and lobbying.
EU coordination:
Solidar / Brussels www.solidar.org
in Germany:
RESPECT-initiative Berlin www.respect-netz.de email: kontakt@respect-netz.de
