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| Migrant workers at May Day rally: 'We are not slaves' |
Filipino migrant workers have called for a new minimum
allowable wage of $5,894 for all foreign domestic helpers in Hong
Kong in today’s rally held to mark International Labor Day.
According to the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body (AMCB)
which led the biggest contingent of foreign domestic workers at the rally, the
increase in the salary is in line with an Oxfam study on what constitutes a
living wage.
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| The big AMCB contingent |
The group says the current minimum wage of $4,520 per month
translates to only $9 per hour for a 16-hour work day, and $12 for those who
work for 12 hours each day. That’s a far cry from the $54.7 hourly rate
recommended by the Oxfam study.
“A living wage is a fight of all workers in Hong Kong who endure slave wage level.
For migrants who are mostly domestic workers, the struggle
to pull up the minimum allowable wage to a living wage is a constant struggle,”
said AMCB in a statement.
Apart from an increase in their monthly salary, the
protesting migrant workers also reiterated calls for:
*an 11-hour uninterrupted rest plus meal breaks
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| Self-made posters list migrants' deplorable work conditions |
*a clear stipulation in their work contracts on what
constitutes unsuitable accommodations, an end to illegal collection and
overcharging, passage of a comprehens;
* legislating a comprehensive anti-trafficking law, and;
* abolition of all “discriminatory immigration policies” such as the “two-week
rule”, mandatory live-in policy, denial of visa to suspected “job-hoppers” and
ban on Nepalese workers
The migrants said they stand solidly behind local workers in
fighting for better pay and working conditions, and deplore efforts, “fanned by
government inaction” to drive a wedge between them.
