Human Exploitation - Angela's Story Continues

Apologies for my absence – I’ve been foiled by a lack of internet access, here’s hoping things are back to normal now.

Some of you, who’ve been blogging with me for a while will remember Angela, the young Zimbabwean asylum seeker, who chars for me once a week. For those who don’t know, Angela and her husband came to South Africa about two years ago, after the market she worked in was blitzed by Mugabe’s henchmen and all people who were not Mugabe supporters were threatened with their lives. Angela and her husband are amongst millions of others who have, over the past few years, fled to South Africa. Most of her family are still in Zimbabwe, including her young daughter whom she has not seen since she left home. Angela is one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met, gentle, caring and with a delightful sense of humour. During the violent xenophobia in May last year when South Africans turned on foreigners, we took Angela and her husband in for over a month until it was safe for them to return to the township where they rent a room from a local woman. But as Angela would tell you, the xenophobia hasn’t gone away, it’s just not as obvious as it was. Every day of her life is lived in some degree of fear and always with a more than reasonable degree of uncertainty.

Enter the next element of Angela’s story and the subject of this post, and I would ask you to bear with me but this is something which must be told.

Angela is employed by a domestic agency which is run by a woman whom I’ll call Pecksniff - after a character in Charles Dickens’ Martin Chuzzlewit.

Pecksniff insists she runs a kind and caring operation in which all her employees are well looked after. In a recent letter sent to all clients, justifying a price increase, she stated:

“And our wages will be increasing again – as they need to do, to make sure that our staff can make ends meet… remember that all our char team ladies are employed on a full time basis – earning decent salaries, transport money, UIF etc. We pride ourselves on making sure that everything is done correctly. So yes, there may be other “agencies” out there who charge less – but do they train, treat and pay their staff properly? We do.”

However, in the two years that I’ve used Pecksniff’s services, I’ve had several charwomen tell me that she’s not very nice to work for. It has also been apparent that they get no training. These women seem to only continue in Pecksniff's employment because their circumstances are dire. And now that Angela has worked here for over a year, I’ve been able to glean a greater insight into the modus operandi of Mistress Pecksniff.

For a start, when we took in Angela and her husband during the xenophobic violence, Pecksniff was livid. She informed Angela that she couldn’t stay with us. I phoned her and explained that Angela’s life was in danger and as a basic act of humanity the least I could do was offer her sanctuary. I said to Pecksniff that I hoped if I ever found myself in Angela’s situation that Pecksniff might be willing to offer me refuge… She said she took my point but she still didn’t like it as it undermined her position as employer.

Six months ago, Angela fell pregnant. I asked if she would be paid maternity benefit. She said Pecksniff had said no. I asked if Pecksniff was contributing to UIF (unemployment insurance fund) on Angela’s behalf (legally all employers and employees earning below a certain amount must contribute to UIF). Angela wasn’t sure. If Pecksniff and Angela contribute to UIF then she is able to register for a maternity benefit from the state. Do bear in mind Pecksniff’s words in her letter pertaining to price increases.

In the last few weeks things have unraveled fast and Angela has been increasingly unhappy.

• It turns out that Pecksniff threatens her staff with firing – this is illegal under the South African Labour Relations Act – both the threats and firing staff without due - and lengthy - process. (South African workers are particularly well protected under the Act.)

• Pecksniff appears to pay some women more than others and for no apparent reason.

• A month ago, violent taxi strikes prevented people, including Angela, from getting to work.

• A week later, Angela was asked to work on a Saturday (overtime) and was then told she wasn’t being paid as her money (time and a half) was being deducted for the day (normal working day) she didn’t come to work because of the taxi strike.

• Last Wednesday, without following due procedure, Pecksniff deducted money from Angela’s paltry wages because the trains weren’t on time and Angela arrived at the office ten minutes late. (Bear in mind that South African rail transport doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to Swissrail…)

• It transpired that not only were wages deducted (illegal) but Angela was also given a “written warning” but without Pecksniff following due legal process which meant Angela was given no opportunity to represent or defend herself or apply for paralegal assistance.

• On top of all that I’ve discovered that of the daily rate that I am charged by Pecksniff, Angela earns approximately 32% of that – an amount which is equivalent to the basic minimum wage, irrespective of the number of hours or days she works (so much for “decent wages”). Where I pay a daily rate and the number of days varies from month to month, Angela is paid a flat monthly rate of R1500. That’s approximately £107 or $144 per month. Now, please go and read Pecksniff’s words again pertaining to price hikes.

• Moreover, I found that Pecksniff was not contributing to UIF for Angela – though she had done so in one month and had not refunded the monies to Angela.

• It seems Angela only sometimes receives salary statements. Legally she should receive them monthly.

• As regards the UIF, with no contributions to UIF, Angela will be unable to claim maternity benefit. But…

• she said that Pecksniff was now thinking of paying her a maternity benefit, BUT she’d give Angela the money when Angela returned to work after maternity leave. In other words, for three months Angela will have no income. It also means that if she wants the money, she will have to return to work for Pecksniff - something she really doesn’t want to do.

• And finally, Pecksniff apparently told Angela she had to take her annual leave along with her maternity leave.

To date we’ve felt unable to do anything, because without seeing Angela’s contract with Pecksniff we aren’t in possession of the facts. And the problem is Angela doesn’t have a copy of her contract and is too afraid to ask Pecksniff for a copy, fearing that she will be fired (which is illegal).

It all got a bit much and D decided to phone Pecksniff. It was better he did it since I would have been like an overheated bull in a china shop. He was polite and deferential and asked to understand what it was that Angela had been told to sign with regard to wages being deducted for arriving at work late (courtesy of SA Rail). He asked why she was given a written warning and if due process had been followed (it hadn’t). Pecksniff went off the deep end, screaming that she was unwilling to have the conversation. D persisted calmly. Pecksniff insisted she was not obliged to contribute to UIF for foreign nationals (so why did her letter justifying price hikes say that she does?). D asked if Pecksniff would be paying Angela a maternity benefit. Pecksniff said she was “thinking about it”. D thanked her for her time and her assistance and that was that.

We told Angela if Pecksniff tried to make her life difficult as a result of our call, then she should let us know. We know from past experience that Pecksniff gives staff who speak to clients about their concerns a very hard time. But this time Pecksniff took a different approach. I had mail from Pecksniff the following morning along with her bill, saying in view of her conversation with D she could no longer offer us a domestic service.

Now, you have to wonder… is that the action of a woman with nothing to hide? Is that the action of a concerned employer responding to a concerned client? In taking this action it strikes me that Pecksniff reveals her guilt. She also believes, no doubt, that she has “got rid” of us and that in doing so, she has removed Angela’s champions.

Well, as it is always said: there is more than one way to skin a cat… This, ladies and gentlemen, is not the end of it. Suffice it to say Angela has not lost her champions. She has suffered and endured enough hardship - and enough is enough.


ADDENDUM 03 Feb 2009: I found this article, which proves that Pecksniff's operation is not an isolated case and that in fact many of the other domestic service agencies apply far worse policies and practices than Pecksniff's. It is interesting to note too that the South African Domestic Services and Workers' Union is well aware of the problem. Unfortunately the problem appears to be compounded by workers being too afraid to stand up for their rights - much in the same way that Angela is.