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By Daisy CL Mandap
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| The speakers show what they hope to bring to tomorrow's meeting with HK labor officials |
Foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong
are calling for their minimum monthly salary to be raised to $5,500, and their
food allowance to no less than $2,500 a month.
The call was issued earlier today, Aug 6, a day before the
biggest support organizations for migrant workers were due to meet with Hong
Kong labour officials for the yearly consultation on the “minimum allowable wage”
(MAW) for foreign domestic helpers.
The migrant workers, along with three of the biggest
organizations fighting for their rights and welfare, announced their position at
a media briefing called to unveil the findings of a survey that shows where
their monthly earnings go.
The joint study by the Mission for Migrant Workers and the
Asia-Pacific Mission for Migrants showed that three-fifths (3/5) of FDWs’
salaries, or $2,700 goes to paying for goods and services in Hong Kong, leaving
only about $1,700 for savings and family remittance.
Given these figures, the Mission
said: “It is estimated that they (migrant workers) infuse over $562 million per
month or over $6.75 billion per year towards the Hong Kong
economy through purchases alone.”
Despite their huge contribution to the local economy, the
Asian Migrants Coordinating Body (AMCB) said in a statement that wages given to
FDWs leave them unable to cope with the steady rise in the cost of goods,
utilities and services in Hong Kong .
Using the government’s own estimates of the cost of living
in Hong Kong , and even granting that FDWs have
to live with their employers, AMCB said they should be getting $5,585 for
working 10 hours a day on average.
The demand for a $2,500 monthly food allowance is also said
to be based on government statistics on the per capita expenditure on food by Hong Kong residents.
According to the group, the current minimum wage of $4,410
is “a measly 44%” of what is needed for a person to survive in Hong Kong . The current monthly food allowance of $1,053 is said
to be 59% lower than what is considered sufficient in the city.
AMCB spokesperson Dolores Balladares-Pelaez said that her
group intends to bring to tomorrow’s meeting a reiteration of their call to be
paid the same wages as local workers, and for the government to use a more
transparent scheme for computing the MAW.
Indonesian migrant leader Sringatin, also of AMCB, said they
also want to call on both Hong Kong and the
sending countries to work jointly on promoting the rights and welfare of FDWs,
and acknowledge their great contribution to their respective economies.
The Mission ’s Cynthia Tellez
said that her group would push for a more realistic MAW based on a more
transparent mechanism - and “better yet”, align it with the statutory minimum
wage for other workers in Hong Kong .
She also wants the Hong Kong
government to actively address the recurring issues of illegal recruitment and
illegal agency fees, and to enact an anti-human trafficking law based on the
United Nations-Palermo protocol.
APMM’s Ramon Bultron backed the other groups’ calls, but put
emphasis on ensuring that the rights and welfare of FDWs are protected, and
reiterated the need for Hong Kong to pass a
law against human trafficking.
He also called on the media and other groups to continue
working with organizations that support and promote the rights of migrants.
