BOLIVIA: Domestics to Gain Healthcare Coverage

LA PAZ, Bolivia (IPS), June 12, 2008: By Bernarda Claure Domestic workers in Bolivia, most of whom are indigenous women from the highlands region, are about to gain access to healthcare coverage. A law in effect since 2003 already limited their workdays to 10 hours in the case of live-in workers and eight hours for those who live independently, provided them with holiday bonuses and days off, granted them all of the rights outlined in the General Labour Law. But the articles on healthcare and pensions required specific regulations before they could be implemented. The draft regulations on the former were sent to President Evo Morales on May 27. When he signs it into law, domestic workers will finally have broad healthcare and hospitalisation coverage for themselves and their children, with doctors available in the evenings (from 5:00 to 9:00 pm) so as not to interrupt the women’s work schedules. "This is a very positive moment," Basilia Catari, secretary of organisation at the National Federation of Domestic Workers of Bolivia (FENATRAHOB), told IPS. Copyright: Inter Press Service