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| The Mission 's booth at St John's where people were invited to write letters of thanks to migrants |
Migrant domestic workers should be justly compensated.
This was the reaction issued today, Sept. 30, by the
Mission for Migrant Workers to yesterday’s announcement by the Hong Kong
government that the minimum allowable wage for foreign domestic workers will be
raised by a mere $140, to $4870.
The church-based non-government organization that
has served migrant workers in Hong Kong for nearly five decades said the “small”
3 percent increase in FDW wages are “not gifts that they should grovel in
gratitude.”
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
It went on to quote St Paul in Romans 4:4 – “to the
one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due.”
For the past 10 years, FDW salary adjustments
traditionally announced in September has risen “a meager $810 over the past
decade from 2012 to 2022,” said the Mission.
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It added that FDWs contribute to the progress of
Hong Kong by freeing employers from household chores and attain gainful
employment, so it is just right for them to be paid well.
“Migrant domestic workers, and all workers for that
matter, deserve respect for dignity and decent income,” said the Mission.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
“One need not be a Christian to feel for the dignity
of workers, including foreign domestic workers,” it added.
The support group also questioned how the government
arrives at the amount of wages that is due FDWs, saying the process “remains a
mystery.”
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
Meanwhile, the Mission joined the Sunday outreach of
St. John’s Cathedral on Sept. 24. The NGO’s representatives led by its general
manager Cynthia Tellez, shared their work in the church services and gave an
overview of the domestic workers’ life in Hong Kong.
The Mission said that as the longest existing
migrant service provider in Hong Kong and Asia, it handles 150 to 200 new cases
monthly, of which 70% are labour and employment-related problems.
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| Pindutin dito |
As part of its service, the NGO has supported
workers abandoned by their employers during the Covid pandemic, sheltered those
fired and not taken for treatment after getting sick, supported those scammed
by rogue agencies, and we assisted the family of a worker who fell to her death
while cleaning windows at her employer’s flat.
As part of its advocacy of creating harmonious
relations between migrants and the community, the Mission set up a booth with
the theme “Give Thanks, Give Care” and invited people to write down “words of
appreciation” to the migrant worker community.
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