Hong Kong rejects minimum wage cut for foreign domestic helpers
Hong Kong rejects minimum wage cut for foreign domestic helpers
Agence France-Presse, Hong Kong
Hong Kong's government on Thursday bowed to pressure from Indonesia and the Philippines and announced it would not go ahead with a proposed cut in the minimum wage for foreign domestic helpers.
A government spokesman said the minimum monthly wage of HK$3,670 (US$470) would remain in place for the time being but could be reviewed if economic conditions continued to deteriorate.
"In view of the uncertainty surrounding the local economic and employment situation, we shall assess whether a further review will be required when up-to-date data, which reflect more recent economic trends, are available," a government spokesman said.
The government has spent the last month considering proposals to cut the minimum wage. Some legislators had argued for a cut by as much as 20 percent to reflect the backdrop of rising unemployment and falling or frozen wages in other sectors.
Senior diplomats from the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and Nepal had all urged Hong Kong not to implement the proposed cut. Money sent home by maids and other helpers has a major impact on the economies of the Philippines and Indonesia, the biggest suppliers of helpers to Hong Kong.
Philippine President Gloria Arroyo had appealed personally to the Hong Kong authorities not to proceed with the proposed cut.
Groups representing the domestic workers welcomed the government's decision but an employers' body was less happy.
"Decency and fair play triumphed today," the Philippine Consulate said in a statement.
"It has been our position that the economic indicators in the year 2001 do not warrant a decrease in minimum wage," a spokesman for the consulate said.
"Beyond economics, we have appealed to those calling for reduction to consider the moral dimension of the issue -- that the poorest of the poor must not be the first to be sacrificed in times of an economic downturn," he said.
The Asian Migrants Coordinating Body, which spearheaded a series of protests against any cut in the minimum wage, said in a statement: "This is a victory not only for migrants but for all working peoples in Hong Kong."
A total of 233,110 foreign domestic workers are employed in the territory, with Filipinos accounting for some 67 percent or 155,330 of these. Indonesians number 66,970, Thais 6,940 and other nationals 3,870.