Sí, somos trabajadoras! Servicio doméstico y los derechos de trabajo en el Chile del siglo XX / Yes, we are workers! Domestic service and labor rights in 20th-century Chile

For over a century, domestic work in Chile was an invisible, undervalued, poorly paid, unregulated, and rights-free occupation. In this book, historian Elizabeth Hutchison traces the long social and legal struggle waged by domestic workers throughout the 20th century in Chile. She describes their transition from servitude to formal, paid employment. After painstaking documentation, research in unique archives of Chilean labor history, firsthand accounts, and interviews with veteran activists, Hutchison reveals how their organization developed and under what conditions they mobilized for change, including the alliances they forged with religious, political, feminist, and other leaders. She notes: “The oral histories of older activists form the narrative backbone of the book, providing accounts of migration from rural areas to cities; adaptation to the homes of the urban elite; awareness-raising through church and union activities; and new alliances with feminist and anti-dictatorship movements forged under the dictatorship. It offers a new perspective on Chilean history in many ways.” She adds: “The lack of labor protections and rampant social discrimination remain key challenges for domestic workers worldwide… even with the kind of progress we saw following the adoption of the ILO Domestic Workers Convention in 2011.”