By Daisy CL Mandap
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| Migrants oppose legislating so-called 'job-hopping' by FDWs |
Consul General Raly
Tejada says the Consulate has relayed to the Hong Kong government its “deep
concern” about allegations of job hopping among foreign domestic workers.
“Please note that the
Consulate General has made strong representations with the Hong Kong government
on the matter and will continue to do so through official channels,” said
ConGen Tejada in an email to The SUN.
Most recently, he said
the issue was brought up by his team during their regular Technical Working
Group dialogue with officials from the Hong Kong Labour Department and the
Department of Immigration.
“I have also expressed
my deep concern over the policy’s negative impact on Filipino domestic workers
with no less than Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun,” ConGen added.
“He (Sun) replied that
Hong Kong will always respect the rights of our workers and that he will make
sure that they remain protected. He added that Hong Kong does not take the
issue lightly with every case treated individually and decided based on
relevant and applicable law.”
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| CG Tejada (left) says he has raised the issue with Labour Secretary Chris Sun (PCG File Photo) |
The country’s top
diplomat said he wished to assure the Filipino community in Hong Kong of the
Consulate’s “unwavering support and assistance” with regard to the job-hopping
allegation, and called on everyone to continue working together to resist any move that would adversely affect them.
He made his remarks
after the United Filipinos in Hong Kong issued a statement on Wednesday, questioning
the Consulate’s “silence” on the issue.
Unifil said that as
representative of the Filipino people in Hong Kong the Consulate should be the
first to speak up and uphold the rights of Filipino migrant workers.
At the very least, said
the group, ConGen Tejada should take the lead in explaining the issue to the
community and then take up the cudgels for the Filipino workers whose rights are under
attack.
Unifil and other migrant
organizations aligned with the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body staged a
protest outside the Labour Department office in Sheung Wan on Monday, ahead of the
tabling before the Legislative Council of a proposal to include “job hopping” in
the list of prohibited acts of FDWs in the Code of Practice for Employment
Agencies.
Unifil slammed Labour’s
proposal as malicious and racist, as it targets only migrant domestic workers
and not employers.
The group said the
public consultation is being held on the wrong presumption that FDWs often are the
ones who initiate the early termination of contracts, when in fact, employers
are the ones more likely to do this.
The employers’ “whim
and capricious” termination of contracts leave the newly arrived workers
jobless and indebted, said the group.
What the government,
particularly the Immigration Department, should do is to apply the law fairly
by requiring employers to cite the reason for termination, and also count the
number of times they have terminated their domestic helpers, added Unifil.
Unifil’s chair,
Dolores Balladares, said: “We want to tell the HK Department
of Labour and the Immigration Department that if we are treated justly and
humanely, our working conditions is good and our rights as migrant workers
inside our employer’s household is uphold and protected…no migrant domestic
workers will be forced to terminate a contract...”
Employment agencies have also criticized the proposal, saying it
violates the FDWs’ right to choose who to work for, as provided for in the
Basic Law.
But employers who have been pushing Immigration to continue
cracking the whip on FDWs who do not finish their two-year contracts say the
proposal is fair as it prevents helpers from switching employers, and causing
huge financial losses to the one who paid for them to come here.
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