By The SUN
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| A Labour Dept representative accepts the workers' petition after the protest |
Migrant domestic workers made their final Sunday pitch
for their minimum salary to be raised to $6,014, before the Hong Kong government
decides by month’s end on what the new wage level should be.
Four MDW groups took turns to speak outside the
central government offices at Tamar this morning, to call on the government to
raise their salary from the current $4,630 to what they call a “living wage.”
The groups are also asking for the food allowance of
those who are not provided food by their employers to be raised to no less than
$3,023.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
Dolores Balladares-Pelaez, spokesperson of Asian
Migrants Coordinating Body, said they have been asking for this salary increase
for nearly three years now, but because of the pandemic, their wages were
instead frozen.
“This amount is not really big and it’s been a
campaign of AMCB for three years now,” she said. “We believe that after three
years we deserve to live decently in Hong Kong.”
Pelaez pointed out that while permanent residents and new
arrivals in Hong Kong were given financial aid to cope with the economic
fallout from Covid-19, MDWs were excluded. Thus, they had to dig deep into
their own pockets to ensure they remained healthy and fit so they could
continue doing their jobs well.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
She also said that having made to work 16 hours each
day on average, especially when their employers and family members were told to
stay indoors because of surges in the infection, MDWs deserve to be rewarded
now.
But she said she is optimistic the Hong Kong
government would do right by MDWs by granting their request for a salary
increase this time.
“I am really, really hopeful and optimistic that the
Hong Kong government will give what we are asking for, ” she said.
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| The groups observed social distancing during their protest outside the Central Govt Offices in Tamar |
Another speaker, Cherry Cataluna of the Filipino Migrant Workers Union, chided the HK government for not recognizing the sacrifices made by MDWs at the height of the pandemic.
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| Press for details |
“During the pandemic, MDWs continued to work despite the threat to their own health, but this effort has not been appreciated,” she said.
Cataluna also pointed out that even MDWs have to cope
with the financial hardship caused by the pandemic because they spend part of
their salaries for public transportation and buying food and other necessities
on their days off.
The speakers also included Thai and Indonesian migrant
workers, and each group had four members who stood together to hold up banners
in compliance with the restrictions on public gathering.
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| BASAHIN ANG DETALYE |
The protest ended after a Labour Department representative accepted a signed petition outlining the migrant workers’ demands.
The new MAW has traditionally been announced by the
government at the end of September, for implementation in October each year.
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PADALA NA!
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