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| These 2 Filipinas were rescued after they were pictured standing precariously on a ledge while cleaning the windows of a flat in Shatin |
By Daisy CL
Mandap
Philippine
Labor Attache Jalilo de la Torre has suspended for 30 days a ban he imposed on the
cleaning by Filipino maids of the outside part of their employer’s home, which
was due to take effect tomorrow, Oct. 15.
He
had originally ordered all accredited employment agencies to submit only work
contracts with the stamped exclusion to the Philippine Overseas Labor Office
from the effective date.
But
a vehement protest by an employers’ group, which included asking Chief
Executive Leung Chun-ying to intervene, appeared to have prompted the Hong Kong
Labour Department to ask Labatt de la Torre for a meeting on Monday, and to
freeze his order in the meantime.
In
a reply to a text query from The SUN, Labatt de la Torre said he decided to put
off implementing the ban “to enable the Hong Kong Labour Department to consult
with stakeholders, including employers’ groups”.
Asked
what would happen if the Labour Department would decide to keep the status quo,
he replied, “We will take the necessary step then”.
He
said the postponement was reached after consultations with various interest
groups, including the Hong Kong Labour Department.
His
last-minute decision to stop implementing the ban did not sit well with
migrants organizations which had been fighting to add the risky task among the
excluded duties expected to be performed by FDHs.
In
a Facebook post, Eman Villanueva of the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body said
his group was disappointed with de la Torre’s decision.
“
We maintain our position that domestic workers
performing cleaning of the external side of the windows in above-ground floor
residences is totally UNACCEPTABLE,” he said.
Villanueva called on the consulates of countries that send
FDHs to Hong Kong to stand by their national’s best interests and not “give in
to the pressures exerted by the HKSAR government, employment agencies and
employers’ associations”.
A
day before, the Support Group of Employers of Foreign Domestic Helpers asked Hong
Kong’s top official to overrule what they called as the unilateral decision by
the Philippine government to impose the ban.
Among
other reasons, the group said the ban was unacceptable because it would set a
bad precedent for other interest groups that might also try to alter the
standard employment contract for FDHs, and because it bypassed the Hong Kong
government’s regulatory powers.
Among
those hoping for an immediate solution to the stalemate is the Hong Kong Union
of Employment Agencies. Their head, Thomas Chan, had told The SUN earlier that
they supported the ban but with reservations.
Chan
said insurers for FDHs have told him that should the ban be implemented, they
would no longer cover any accident that might occur as a result of window cleaning,
including repatriation in case of death.
This
has apparently caused employers to worry, although Chan admitted that the
flipside is that they would be very careful not to violate the ban.
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| Rinalyn |
The
ban, which was initially announced by POLO on Oct. 1, came in the wake of a series
of accidents involving Filipino domestic workers while reportedly cleaning
windows from the outside.
In the latest incident, Rinalyn Dulluog from Isabela fell
from a Tseung Kwan-o high rise on Aug. 9, and police said she was cleaning windows
at the time.
Two
months earlier, Labatt de la Torre led the rescue of two other Filipina helpers
who were pictured by concerned neighbors standing on a narrow ledge while
cleaning the outside part of the windows of their employer’ flat in Shatin. (see picture above)
During
a visit to Hong Kong on Sept. 23-25, Philippine Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello
III tried, but failed to get his local counterpart Matthew Cheung to agree to
exclude the cleaning of outside part of windows from the tasks expected of
FDHs.
