KL sidesteps maid wage issue

Mon, 28 Jul 1997, 00:00 WIB | Source: AP

KUALA LUMPUR (AP): Malaysia's government is staying out of the
question of whether Filipino maids working here will receive pay
raises, as the Philippine government had announced.

Employers will have to decide themselves whether they want to
pay higher wages, or hire cheaper maids from Indonesia, Human
Resources Minister Lim Ah Lek was quoted as saying in The Sunday
Star.

Lim was commenting on Philippine Embassy labor attache Jeffrey
Cortaza's statement that the Manila government had in principle
approved a 50 percent raise in wages for Filipino maids, who are
now being paid 500 ringgit (US$200) a month in Malaysia.

The Malaysian government has a policy of allowing maid
agencies and employers to work out their own costs. Indonesian
maids are paid about 350 ringgit ($140) and Indonesia has not
announced any plans to raise wages.

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