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| A Labour Dept representative receives the protesters' statement calling for $6172 minimum wage |
Migrant domestic workers again picketed the Labour Department offices in Sheung Wan on Thursday to demand that their minimum wage be raised to $6,172 and denounce calls by an employer support group to freeze wages.
Protesters under the banner of the Asian Migrants Coordinating (AMCB) have reiterated their long-standing demand for a “living wage,” as the government is set to announce the result of its annual review of the minimum allowable wage (MAW) for MDWs.
Traditionally, the new MAW is made to take effect starting in October each year. Currently, it is set at $4,990 each month, while the food allowance for those who are not provided free food by their employers get an extra $1,236.
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| Basahin ang detalye! |
Apart from outlining their reasons for calling for an increase of more than $1,000 a month, the protestors also submitted the signatures of some 4,000 people from various sectors who support their call for a living salary and oppose calls for wage freeze.
AMCB spokesperson Rosidha said in a statement that migrant domestic workers “do not deserve a wage freeze.”
While it may be true that the Hong Kong economy is on the decline, she said MDWs should not be made to bear the brunt of the decline, as they are already suffering from “slave wages.”
The government should provide the solution to this problem, and not pass on the burden to them, said the protesters.
“We do not deserve a wage freeze now, much more a wage cut,” Rosidha said.
As a result of the slump that followed the onslaught of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) in 2003, the Hong Kong government imposed a $300 cut in the salaries of MDWs, the first and only time that it has done so.
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| Do not punish us more with a wage freeze, says AMCB |
The call to freeze the MAW was made by the Quadripartite Alliance for Harmonious Employment Practices (QAHEP), which argued MDWs must do their part in alleviating the economic pinch.
“We can't think of a problem that will call for a wage freeze as a proper and logical solution, because it will cause more issues,” said Rosidha.
“The loan issue QAHEP is harping about? Wage freeze will eventually lead to more and bigger loans, as the wages of migrant workers are already too low to sustain our needs,” she added.
