 |
| AMCB members picket the Labour Department office in Central during the consultation meeting |
For the first time, Asian migrant organizations have included long service pay for foreign domestic workers without any preconditions, among the demands they submitted to the Hong Kong Labour Department ahead of the annual review of their minimum monthly salary.
Currently, migrant domestic workers, along with other workers in Hong Kong, are entitled to a long service pay
if they have worked continuously for the same employer for at least five years,
and were not the one who terminated, or refused to renew, their work contract,
when it expired.
 |
| Basahin ang detalye! |
Members of
the Asian Migrant Coordinating Body (AMCB) picketed the Labour Department
office in Central as their leaders met with government officials who had
invited them and other concern groups for a consultation on the so-called “minimum
allowable wage” for foreign domestic helpers.
AMCB, an
alliance of migrant workers from the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Nepal
and Sri Lanka, again asked that the monthly minimum wage for domestic workers
be raised to HK$6,172 and food allowance to HK$3,123 (from HK$5,100 and HK$1,236,
respectively).
 |
| Labour officials are presented with AMCB's demands during the meeting |
AMCB also
raised other work-related concerns during the meeting, such as:
1)
The inclusion
of MDWs in the statutory minimum wage for all other workers in Hong Kong, which
currently stands at HK$43.10 per hour;
2)
Legislate
the working hours of all workers and for migrant workers, including a provision
for a continuous 11-hour rest period between two consecutive working days, plus
meal breaks;
3)
Review “discriminatory
policies” that lead MDWs vulnerable to abuse such as the mandatory live-in
policy and abolish the two-week policy, referring to the period an MDW is
allowed to remain in Hong Kong after termination;
4)
Stipulate
clearly in the standard employment contract of MDWs a clear description of
their “working hours”, “suitable accommodation”, “decent food” and “rest day”.
5)
Provide clear
punishment for employers who compel their MDWs to do dangerous window cleaning,
and ensure it is followed
6)
Make long
service benefit available to all MDWs, without regard for whoever terminated or
declined to renew their work contract
7)
Conduct a
thorough investigation of all unscrupulous recruitment agencies
8)
Lift the
entry ban on Nepali migrant workers
9)
Liaise
with the concerned government agencies so MDWs are allowed to rest in all public
areas including parks and bridges, during their day-off
“Migrant domestic workers are the backbone or the most essential
workers in the society” ensuring that someone is left at home to take care of
children and the elderly and run the household while adults are out working, said
the AMCB statement.
“Yet the contribution of MDWs
is always neglected and they are treated as commodities that are disposable.”
The AMCB said its petition for a living wage and more humane
working conditions for MDWs was endorsed and signed by 70 different
organizations.
