The COVID-19 Crisis is a Wake-up Call to Rethink the World of Work
Statement by the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women on the occasion of International Workers' Day
This year we are celebrating International Workers’ Day in the midst of a global pandemic. A virus ten-thousandth of a millimetre in diameter has turned everyone’s lives upside down. At the time of writing, the novel corona virus or COVID-19, as it has come to be known, has claimed almost 230,000 lives and infected more than 3 million people. The number is still growing, healthcare systems are struggling to cope with the impact and an economic recession is just round the corner. The pandemic has rendered billions of people jobless, homeless and without food security. According to an ILO estimate, full or partial lockdown measures affect almost 2.7 billion workers, representing around 81 per cent of the world’s workforce.
As we grapple with the evolving situation, a few things are clear: this virus has exposed the stark inequalities in our societies and the abysmal scenario in the world of work. It is clear, if ever there was any doubt, that most governments have prioritised profit over people. It is perhaps not surprising that discrimination and structural violence towards care workers, migrants in low-paid jobs and workers in the informal economy are seen even in the COVID-19 containment measures. Indeed, the lingering images over the last several weeks are of the exodus of migrant workers from cities under lockdown, stranded workers huddled up in makeshift accommodations queuing up for food, workers harassed by law enforcement, women facing violence in their homes and farmers with their wasted harvest and unsold produce.
Women, the Unpaid Care Workers
On this May Day we renew our solidarity with the unpaid care workers, most of whom are women. Many of whom are also in paid jobs. While COVID-19 has closed avenues for paid work for many women, there has been a huge increase in their unpaid care work burden. Before COVID-19, women were doing three times as much unpaid care and domestic work as men. Now with children out of school, men out of work, paid care workers not allowed into homes and heightened care needs of older persons, that burden has increased multifold for women across classes and countries. To make matters worse, there are reports of steady rise in domestic violence and child abuse during the lockdown. Confined within their homes, women have lost their peer support and many state and NGO- run shelters are now closed.