I made a video (subtitles in English are available) for my association’s YouTube channel about last week’s Change.org’s event in Malasaña. I recorded about 10 videos of the interviews being done by the news channels that were following El Grupo Turin’s members as they were dressing the statues as housekeepers. I edited these videos to capture the parts that highlighted how el Convenio 189 would promote the rights of domestic workers in Spain. Even though there was one news channel that followed the event consistently as we walked and took the Metro from one statue to the other, there were other news channels that were noticeably neither organized nor considerate about El Grupo Turin’s time or energy. The members were thankful to be getting the coverage that they wished they had gotten earlier in the summer, during El Festival at La Puerta del Sol, right before Congress reviewed el Convenio. Now, however, because one of the members, Rafaela Pimentel, had gotten 100.000 signatures on her Change.org petition in a month, their cause was starting to get much more attention. Nevertheless, one particular news channel wanted El Grupo Turin and the people who were volunteering in the event, like myself and people from other organizations, to do the work for them. They wanted us to email them videos of the event as it was happening even though they had failed be there at the agreed time. Later on, when the event ended at the Ministry of Employment and Social Security, the news channel was waiting outside because they had also failed to arrange the necessary documentation to get inside. Many of the members had to get to work after the event but still gave this news channel an interview.
A similar situation occurred yesterday, when I went to the same news channel with El Grupo Turin, where they had been told they were going to be in a 15-minute segment. It is a bit difficult to get to the channel in public transportation so they agreed to pick up the members at an agreed location but did not tell them how many people they could bring. So I had to wait for them at the channel to see if I could be allowed inside with them. They were also not told how many of them would be interviewed. We got there at 9:00 am and the segment was supposed to begin at 10:30 but it was pushed back to 11:30. I was sitting back in the audience with three of the members and decided to step out when the newswoman decided to ask the “four domestic workers” in the back a couple of questions. Because I had sensed that she intended to reduce the time of the segment, I decided to not take the space of the people who had need every opportunity they can get to make their cause visible. Nevertheless, the segment was only five minutes so the members were not able to discuss the topics they had planned to bring up during the interview. This kind of inconsiderate treatment is a reflection of how much the state disregards the importance of labor rights for domestic workers.
