Editor,I deeply thank The New Times for bringing up a topic that is often ignored and swept under the rug by our society.I returned to Rwanda after 16 years and I was appalled by the way these hardworking men and women were being treated by – yes my own parents, but also my relatives and family friends. It was unbearable.The ministry of labour should implement laws that protect and regulate how housekeepers are being remunerated and how they are being treated at the workplace. To those who claim that these workers tend to break things and steal, I have one question: Does that excuse the inhumane treatment that they’re subjected to before they even start breaking or stealing anything?So you anticipate this behaviour and start mistreating them just in case they misbehave? That is just backward thinking and has no place in our society.There should be unions or associations to help improve their working conditions because no human being should have to go through this treatment and for such peanuts they call remuneration. Thanks again and keep up the good work.Shabaka, Toronto, CanadaReaction to the story, “The woes of the underpaid and unappreciated domestic worker”, (The New Times, June 14)
