‘If I Can, We Can’: Honouring Myrtle Witbooi and the History of Domestic Worker Organising
Myrtle Witbooi, a pioneering leader of the domestic worker movement, died on January 16 in Cape Town at age 75. Under South Africa’s apartheid rule, she began to organise women in the garage of her employer and went on to become president of the first global union led by women. For 52 years she advo...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Johannesburg
2023-09-01
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| Series: | The Thinker |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/The_Thinker/article/view/2680 |
| _version_ | 1797680063041241088 |
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| author | Jennifer N. Fish |
| author_facet | Jennifer N. Fish |
| author_sort | Jennifer N. Fish |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Myrtle Witbooi, a pioneering leader of the domestic worker movement, died on January 16 in Cape Town at age 75. Under South Africa’s apartheid rule, she began to organise women in the garage of her employer and went on to become president of the first global union led by women. For 52 years she advocated for the rights of domestic workers, upholding her presidency in both South Africa’s national union of domestic workers and the International Domestic Workers Federation, throughout her struggle with a rare form of bone cancer. Ms. Witbooi’s experience as a domestic worker under apartheid guided her life on the front lines of both a national and global movement to recognise and protect women once considered ‘servants’ without rights. She fought for domestic workers’ first legal protections in South Africa’s democracy, which set basic conditions of employment and allowed over 100,000 women to receive maternity and unemployment insurance over the past twenty years. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T23:24:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ed936fdcb8a043f48fc8031ef4cd8cd9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-2458 2616-907X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T23:24:15Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | University of Johannesburg |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Thinker |
| spelling | doaj.art-ed936fdcb8a043f48fc8031ef4cd8cd92023-09-20T13:15:07ZengUniversity of JohannesburgThe Thinker2075-24582616-907X2023-09-0196104107doi.org/10.36615/the_thinker.v96i3.2680‘If I Can, We Can’: Honouring Myrtle Witbooi and the History of Domestic Worker OrganisingJennifer N. Fish0Old Dominion UniversityMyrtle Witbooi, a pioneering leader of the domestic worker movement, died on January 16 in Cape Town at age 75. Under South Africa’s apartheid rule, she began to organise women in the garage of her employer and went on to become president of the first global union led by women. For 52 years she advocated for the rights of domestic workers, upholding her presidency in both South Africa’s national union of domestic workers and the International Domestic Workers Federation, throughout her struggle with a rare form of bone cancer. Ms. Witbooi’s experience as a domestic worker under apartheid guided her life on the front lines of both a national and global movement to recognise and protect women once considered ‘servants’ without rights. She fought for domestic workers’ first legal protections in South Africa’s democracy, which set basic conditions of employment and allowed over 100,000 women to receive maternity and unemployment insurance over the past twenty years.https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/The_Thinker/article/view/2680myrtle witbooidomestic workersdomestic workers' rightssouth africa |
| spellingShingle | Jennifer N. Fish ‘If I Can, We Can’: Honouring Myrtle Witbooi and the History of Domestic Worker Organising The Thinker myrtle witbooi domestic workers domestic workers' rights south africa |
| title | ‘If I Can, We Can’: Honouring Myrtle Witbooi and the History of Domestic Worker Organising |
| title_full | ‘If I Can, We Can’: Honouring Myrtle Witbooi and the History of Domestic Worker Organising |
| title_fullStr | ‘If I Can, We Can’: Honouring Myrtle Witbooi and the History of Domestic Worker Organising |
| title_full_unstemmed | ‘If I Can, We Can’: Honouring Myrtle Witbooi and the History of Domestic Worker Organising |
| title_short | ‘If I Can, We Can’: Honouring Myrtle Witbooi and the History of Domestic Worker Organising |
| title_sort | if i can we can honouring myrtle witbooi and the history of domestic worker organising |
| topic | myrtle witbooi domestic workers domestic workers' rights south africa |
| url | https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/The_Thinker/article/view/2680 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jennifernfish ificanwecanhonouringmyrtlewitbooiandthehistoryofdomesticworkerorganising |