Migrant domestic workers are urging the Hong Kong government to recognize them as workers by regulating their working hours and requiring employers to provide them humane accommodation.
Some 40 MDWs and local supporters voiced out their grievances in a rally outside Central Government Offices in Admiralty on Jun 14, two days before the seventh anniversary of the ILO Convention 189, which calls for decent treatment of domestic workers.
Speakers at the rally, organized by the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body and the International Migrants Alliance, said many MDWs work in inhuman conditions with lack of sleep due to excessive work hours, lack of food, and policies that do not consider them as real workers.
The protesters handed a copy of their their petition for 11 hours of rest between two days and humane accommodation in the homes of their employers.
The MDWs have launched a signature campaign to get 35,000 workers to sign the petition to include their demands in the employment contract.
 |
| A representative from the Hong Kong government shows an envelope containing the petition for regulated working hours and humane accommodation for migrant domestic workers which rally leaders handed to him on Thursday, Jun 14. Some 40 domestic workers and local supporters held the rally in front of the Central Government Offices in Admiralty. |
