Mexican Filmmaker Cuaron Backs Domestic Workers Over Pay

Oscar-winning Mexican film director Alfonso Cuaron on Tuesday backed calls to ensure thousands of domestic workers laid off during the COVID-19 pandemic continue to be paid.

"It is our responsibility as employers to pay their wages in this time of uncertainty," said Cuaron, who won the best director Oscar at the 2019 Academy Awards for "Roma."

"The objective of this campaign is to remember how important it is to take care of those who care for us and the respect that the workers deserve," the 58-year-old filmmaker said.

Cuaron, whose film cast a spotlight on Latin America's domestic workers, threw his weight behind a campaign by the Center for Support and Training for Domestic Employees, CACEH.

The majority of Mexico's 2.3 million domestic employees live a precarious existence from day to day and have no social security, the organization said.

"Thousands of these workers have been left without work or without wages after the arrival of the coronavirus in this country," it said.

"Many employers have asked them to stop working to protect the health of the family, but have given them no certainty" about continuing payment, the organization said.

Mexico, with a population of 120 million, has registered over 71,000 infections and more than 7,600 deaths from the virus -- Latin America's highest toll after Brazil.