Mexico reportedly has about 2.3 million domestic workers. For as long as we’ve been around, the group (90% of which are women) have been the backbone of families at households in the North American country and around the world. Now, the coronavirus pandemic has uprooted all sense of normality, leaving many of them without jobs or wages.
This week, many known faces—including Marina de Tavira and Alfonso Cuarón—and organizations like UN Women, Hogar Justo Hogar came together to promote the “Cuida a quien the cuida” (take care of those who takes care of you) campaign.
“While we take care of our health, we cannot abandon those who work closest to our families and our homes. Let’s do our part, be responsible, and pay the domestic workers in this crisis,” Marina de Tavira said.
In May of 2019, Mexico’s Congress passed a bill that granted basic labor rights to domestic workers. Overdue yet welcomed nonetheless, the legislation assured families adhere to the bare minimum including but not limited to a minimum wage, health care and maternity leave.
Cuarón, whose “Roma” was released in October of 2018, is seen as an unexpected ally since then. “It was a movie that was undoubtedly part of this change,” Marcelina Bautista, an advocate and former domestic worker, told The New York Times.
Cuarón joins the plea for continued pay for domestic workers saying “The objective of this campaign is to remember how important it is to take care of those who care for us and the respect that the workers deserve.”