Today, Monday June 24th 2013, the UNION OF DOMESTIC WORKERS OF GUATEMALA –SINTRACAPGUA, for their initials in Spanish-, a union affiliated to the Guatemalan Union, Indigenous and Peasant Movement –MSICG-, together with MSICG had a meeting with JUAN DE DIOS DE LA CRUZ RODRIGUEZ LOPEZ, Chairman of the Board of IGSS, to manifest to him their concern for the precarious labor conditions of more than 187,000 domestic workers in Guatemala, most of whom are women, indigenous and minors.

The Secretary General of SINTRACAPGUA, MARIA OLIMPIA CRUZ LOPEZ, reminded him that, as she denounced it in due time, during the REYES MAYEN administration, as an act of mockery to domestic workers, Agreement 1235 of the Board of IGSS was issued, regulating the special protection program for domestic workers –PRECAPI-.

PRECAPI was conceived more as a mechanism of mediatized character tan as a solution to the precarious labor conditions of this important sector of society and, as a result, its coverage was restricted to the department of Guatemala, with limited Access to maternity, accidents and healthy child control programs. In practice, these limitations have led to few contributions by this program to the improvement of the economic and social conditions of the workers of this sector and to their children.

During the meeting, MSICG companions highlighted that PRECAPI needs a deep revision, as well as the introduction of necessary changes to turn this program into a true step forward to comply with the logic of universality that inspires Guatemalan social security, and that it should step away from the discriminatory features that regulate it currently, which treat the workers of this important sector as third class citizens.

After the meeting, in which also took part the Manager of IGSS, OSCAR ARMANDO GARCIA MUÑOZ, and the Pecuniary Benefits Sub-manager, BYRON DANIEL HERNANDEZ PICHIYA, Chairman JUAN DE DIOS DE LA CURZ RODRIGUEZ LOPEZ stated that, as Chairman of the Board of IGSS, he worriedly witnessed the scarce social protection given to domestic workers, and the disfunctionality of PRECAPI, which was confirmed by the fact that, in practice, only 27 workers were enjoying its benefits.

Likewise, he pointed out that PRECAPI had to be urgently reviewed, so that domestic workers can enjoy all the protection and social security they are entitled to as is established in the Political Constitution of the Republic of Guatemala and International Agreements ratified by the State. He also affirmed that, in compliance with these concerns, he immediately established a dialogue table with MSICG and SINTRACAPGUA to approach these issues and search for the most immediate solution for them.

MSICG, and its affiliate union, SINTRACAPGUA, congratulate the proneness to dialogue shown by the Chairman of the Board of IGSS, and highlight that his openness to this is a significant and positive change in IGSS’s policies towards social interlocutors and hope that this dialogue process will allow, in the shortest term, to publicly announce the incorporation of domestic workers to Social Security in an integral, full manner.

Guatemala, June 24th 2013.

POLITICAL COUNCIL
GUATEMALAN UNION, INDIGENOUS AND PEASANT MOVEMENT
MSICG