Liza, kibba yu mout

Glenda Simms, Gleaner Writer

According to Wikipedia, the free internet encyclopedia, the term 'whistleblower' comes from a historical practice of English police officers who blew their whistles to alert other law enforcement officers and the general public when there is danger in the vicinity or when someone is observed committing any illegal activity.

In the modern workplace in most civilised societies there are courageous women and men in firms who report illegal and unacceptable behaviours such as fraud, corruption, theft, sexual harassment and other related activities that negatively impact on their company's operations.

There are also individuals external to an enterprise who have knowledge of illegal activities connected to businesses and enterprises in both the private and public sectors. In many societies, both internal and external whistle-blowers are protected against victimisation by strong legislation.

The issue of whistle-blowing is now very topical in the Jamaican society and a special committee of Parliament is in the process of setting guidelines for whistle-blowers in the future.

At this juncture, it is important for us to ensure that every Jamaican is empowered to help in the establishment of decency in every space in which he or she finds him or herself.

Each year the International Labour Organisation (ILO) holds an extended meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. In the summer of 2010, the theme of this important gathering of representatives of the world governments, trade unions, employers and other targeted groups was 'Decent Work for Domestic Workers'.

The plight of domestic workers globally has been of great concern to the ILO, other international agencies, the related arms of the United Nations and a variety of governments. For instance, in recent times the committee that is responsible for holding governments accountable for their commitments under the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women has spent much energy on developing a general recommendation on migrant women workers. The majority of these women are shuffled around the globe to scrub, clean and fetch and carry for the middle and upper classes of the Far East, North America, Europe, the Middle East and other geographical areas in the global village.

The treatment of this cadre of women in differing circumstances is legendary, overwhelmingly cruel and is one of the great shames of the modern world.

Multicultural female

This was demonstrated by an article by Kareem Fahin published in the August 1 edition of the New York Times. The article reports that in Kuwait, household helpers are suffering on many levels. This situation has resulted in dozens of Nepalese maids who have fled from their employers and taken refuge in their embassy. In this facility, they had to sleep on the floor in the lobby until their situation could be addressed by their country.

In a similar vein, it was reported that in the embassy of the Philippines more than 200 of these maids sweltered as they slept on their luggage.

Fahin also reported that this scenario was repeated in the Indonesian embassy.

All of these multicultural female workers represent the harsh reality of life in the typical Kuwaiti household. The helper has no legal protection against employers who push them too far and abuse them physically and sexually.

According to the global reports, Kuwait is typical of the conditions of household helpers in Middle Eastern countries.

In this region, the treatment of the maid is among the worst. In some cases, we are told that human-rights advocates say the problem of abuse persists because it is rarely punished.

"Domestic workers are told to report offences to the police but the advocates say some employers quickly file counter charges accusing the maids of such offences as stealing."

It is against this world reality that the ILO made the decision to spend its 2010 meeting in raising the profile of the domestic workers by underlining the need for decent work for this sector of humanity which is predominantly a female sector.

It is instructive to note that the Jamaican delegation to the 2010 ILO Conference in Geneva reflected the traditional tripartite compact of government, employers and trade unions. Of significance was the inclusion of the president of the Jamaica Household Workers' Association in this most recent delegation to Geneva. This move was indeed positive and progressive and the minister of labour must be commended for continuing the tradition of paying attention to the situation of the Jamaican maid class.

It was during the tenure of Portia Simpson Miller as minister of labour that the National Machinery for Women was directed to pay special attention to the needs and situation of household workers and to ensure that this group was assigned office space and technical support within the machinery.

The inclusion of the leadership of the domestic workers in the ILO 2010 delegation is a validation of Pearnel Charles' commitment to ensuring that this category of workers is given dignity and justice in the Jamaican society.

This means that every member of the Jamaican delegation to any international gathering has the status of equality. These delegations might have a leader, but each delegate is equal to the other. No one is a 'left foot' on these government sanctioned and financed representation.

It is within this world view that the restriction of the whistle-blower privileges must be discussed.

Whistle-blower legislation

In the July 30 edition of the Jamaica Observer, Erica Virtue elaborated on the dramatic headline 'Silence Helpers'. According to her article, the Jamaica Employers' Federation (JEF) told the members of the Joint Select Committee of Parliament that in their examination of the whistle-blower legislation, they should exclude household helpers from the protections that this new piece of legislation is proposing.

Wayne Chen, the chairman and spokesperson of JEF, argued that whistle-blowing should be the prerogative of workers in the public sector, but his household which he describes as the private sector should be protected at all times against the helper who might be tempted to bring to public attention any questionable or non-questionable activity within the corridors of a "man's castle".

In response to this very controversial request, committee member A.J. Nicholson pointed out to other committee members and Mr Chen that "household helpers often know much which may be in the public interest".

Mr Nicholson has forced us to revisit our ideas about the lowly household worker. We now need to revisit this category of the workforce and make up our minds about whether they are chattels or full fledged citizens of the Jamaican society.

If they are chattels whose bodies and minds are owned by their employers, then Mr Chen can boldly silence them and keep them relegated to the category of non-citizen or second-class citizen.

On the other hand, if the domestic worker is expected to be, like every other Jamaican, responsible in upholding the integrity of the Jamaican nation, then we cannot entertain the restriction of their right to recognise evil and bring this evil to the attention of the protectors of the nation.

Sometimes we tend to forget the days in which black women were, legally, chattels of the slave master, his extended family and his "pom pom wavers".

During this period recorded historical accounts detailed the criminality within private households that was observed and participated in by the house slaves. Some of these women were forced to help the slave master and his misses to dispose of the bodies of the mulatto pickneys who were birthed in the maid quarters. In the same pattern, they had to bury the bodies of young, black men who were surprised by massa in the misses' bedroom. After all, misses wanted to experience the excitement of the illicit sex that massa enjoyed night after night.

Strength to endure

Slave gal Liza, under slavery, had no choice. She had to close her eyes, bear her pain and ask God to give her the strength to endure.

The celebration of emancipation means that today's Lizas should have the same right as the rest of the population. They must have the human right to turn in the criminals in both the private and public sphere.

It is this freedom to be a whistle-blower that is of concern to the movers and shakers of the society.

As Mr Nicholson pointed out, the domestic worker knows lots of secrets that might be of interest to the public good.

For instance, our modern day Lizas are key to the solving of many crimes and they should have the right to 'whistle blow' and to 'sing'.

Hidden on page A10 of the August 4 edition of the Gleaner is the story of a baby's body which was found at the Riverton City landfill.

While the authorities are trying to solve the mystery of this horrendous crime, Liza and her friends are sharing many stories of the princesses in the big house who get pregnant and find innovative ways of aborting their unwanted foetuses. Sometimes Liza and her peers are paid by the misses to get rid of the evidence. Liza and her friends frequently 'kick back' and share stories of illegal activities engaged in by their employers.

Scandal

Some of these women were not surprised by the recent scandal around fraud at the Customs Department. Many of them have unpacked and helped in the distribution of the varied goods that escape the custom authorities.

Liza and her friends also can tell stories of the spousal battery, rapes, carnal abuse and incestuous activities and drug dealing that take place in the bedrooms, parlours, garages and maid quarters in both the upscale and the zinc fenced compounds.

This knowledge base that is gleaned from the lived realities of the helper class is not new. The Liza and Martha of the contemporary Jamaica are intimately linked to Liza and Phibba who served massa in his criminality over time.

But these times should be different from the past plantation regime.

One has to assume that the Jamaica Employers' Federation representative to the ILO Convention would have consulted with the president of the Domestic Workers Association and Mr Chen would have made his recommendations to the Parliamentary Committee considering the "whistle blowing: legislation in an informed collaborative mode".

Outside of this model of respect, this silencing of household workers would be the modern-day version of "Liza, kibba yuh mout'".

Dr Glenda Simms is a consultant on gender issues. Feedback may be sent to columns@gleanerjm.com.