Several union organizations propose that the 14 weeks of maternity leave be increased to 18 in the country and that parents – who currently have two days – receive a minimum of 15 days of leave from paternity to share and contribute to care responsibilities, from the two days before the birth occurs or in case of adoption.
In addition, that more drastic measures be adopted than the current ones regarding discrimination due to pregnancy and maternity conditions to avoid some practices such as the requirement of pregnancy tests to access employment or eviction and dismissal before and after childbirth.
Talso that, in the event of illness, hospitalization or death of the mother after childbirth and before the expiration of the postpartum leave period and if she is unable to care for the child, the father, if employed, should be entitled to a leave to take care of the son or daughter for a duration equivalent to the time remaining until the period of postnatal leave granted to the mother expires.
Trade union organizations affiliated with the National Confederation of Trade Union Unity (CNUS) also consider that the leave for adoption of a son or daughter is a moment of care, emotion and affection for family integration that must be strengthened by fathers and mothers.
“So it is necessary that they enjoy the enjoyment of maternity licence and paternity in the same condition as when it occurs due to the worker’s pregnancy, including employment protection and the breastfeeding year subsidy, if the child’s age falls within that period and if the father or mother is in compliance with the contributions of in accordance with the norms dictated by social security in these cases”, they indicate.
Last month, Free Journal published a report about the existing legal vacuum in the country so that those who adopt children enjoy a maternity licence and paternity as in other countries. Eulogia Familia, in charge of gender policy at the CNUS, told this newspaper today that said publication enriched the women’s trade union proposal at a time when the modification of the Labor Code in force for 30 years is being discussed again.
The unions understand that they must ccreate more lactation rooms in the communities and in the companies for the extraction of milk or to feed the children. Likewise, establish breast milk banks, either for donors or for their own use.
They explain that the agreement 156 of the International Labor Organization (ILO), on paid workers with family responsibilities, is adopted by the country through the constitutional path of the National Congress and the Executive Power.
“We call on the government to send it to ratify the ILO, as well as the application of Convention 189 on the rights of domestic workers, ratified and in force since May 16, 2016,” they insist.
Through a document delivered to the press, they emphasize that the time has come for the demands of women workers for equal treatment in their paid jobs and household responsibilities to be considered in the reform processes that are taking place in the country, especially in the Social Security and Work codeas they are the main laws on which the labor and social protection policy rests.
The representatives of the organizations that support the proposal are: Ariel Acevedo, president of the Unitary Federation of Metallurgical Workers (Futrametal); Ramón Mosquea, president of the National Union of Fritola and Dominicana Workers (Sintralaydo); Reynaldo Corporán, organizational secretary of the Dominican Federation of Free Trade Zone Workers (Fedotrazonas); and Bienvenido Cuevas, general secretary of the National Union of Hotel and Restaurant Workers (Unatrahorest).
The trade unionists make the proposal a few days before International Women’s Day is commemorated and at a time when workshops are being held to modify the Work code and the Social Security Law.
