Georgia’s first trade union representing domestic and care workers has been established by the Association of Nannies and Domestic Workers. The new organization currently unites around 100 members, including nannies, cleaners, tutors, personal assistants, nurses, cooks, elderly caregivers and aestheticians, with the shared goal of securing recognition and protection for their labour rights.
Despite the essential role domestic workers play in Georgian households, local legislation does not yet recognize domestic labour as a formal employment category. As a result, thousands of workers, the vast majority of them women, remain outside the protection of the Labour Code, without access to benefits or safety guaranteed to other professions.
In Georgia, women account for roughly 99% of all domestic workers, many of whom face unstable employment conditions and lack of social protection. The newly formed union aims to change this by organizing workers, raising public awareness and advocating for the inclusion of domestic labour in national legislation.
UN Women has been actively supporting the efforts to strengthen domestic workers’ rights in Georgia through its ongoing project ‘Women’s Economic Empowerment in the South Caucasus.’ The initiative, implemented with the financial support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), works closely with the Association of Nannies and Domestic Workers to improve labour standards and fair treatment for women in the care economy.
