Philippines to sue Hong Kong over wage cuts to maids
Philippines to sue Hong Kong over wage cuts to maids
Agence France-Presse, Manila
Philippine President Gloria Arroyo said on Saturday her
government will sue the Hong Kong government in Hong Kong courts
over the wage cuts imposed on Filipina domestic workers there.
"We will not only bring our case to the ILO (International
Labor Organization), but also to the Hong Kong courts themselves.
We will sue the Hong Kong government in the Hong Kong courts,"
Arroyo said in a speech marking international women's day.
She said the move could prove effective, remarking that
"sometimes, the Hong Kong government loses cases in court."
Arroyo did not say on what basis her government would file the
case against the Hong Kong government.
Arroyo also defended her decision to suspend the deployment of
Filipina maids to Hong Kong, saying that this had added weight to
the campaign in Hong Kong to halt the wage cuts.
She remarked that both the Philippines and Indonesia had
stopped sending maids to Hong Kong and that Sri Lanka was
thinking of joining them.
Since the three countries account for the bulk of foreign
domestic workers there, this had led to more pressure to leave
the salaries of foreign maids unchanged.
"This is recognition that a levy (on the maids) however
disguised is unfair and discriminatory," Arroyo said.
Arroyo on Wednesday had barred the sending of Philippine maids
to Hong Kong after the territory ignored her appeals not to
impose the wage cuts.
Some organizations have assailed Arroyo's ban on the
deployment of maids, saying it will only worsen their plight.
One group, United Filipinos in Hong Kong (UNIFIL) blasted the
declaration for causing "anxiety and confusion" among those maids
who were currently having their contracts processed or renewing
contracts in the next few weeks.
UNIFIL demanded on Saturday that Arroyo sack her Labor
Secretary Patricia Santo Tomas for endorsing the ban.
However Arroyo reiterated that she favored the ban, urging,
"those who oppose the suspension, give me more time."
Manila earlier said the suspension on deployment of maids to
Hong Kong may only last two months, but Arroyo said that even a
one-month suspension "will help us in the long term."
In a move to reduce its budget deficit, Hong Kong has
announced that a maid's minimum wage is to be reduced by 400 Hong
Kong dollars (US$51) a month to 3,270 dollars a month ($420) for
employment contracts signed on or after April 1.
The wage cut effectively offsets a levy of 400 dollars ($51) a
month, which private employers of foreign household help in Hong
Kong will have to pay from Oct. 1.
To oppose the wage cut, Filipino consul general in Hong Kong,
Victoria Bataclan, has been instructed to talk to her
counterparts from Indonesia, Thailand, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka
to join forces on the issue.
Indonesia and the Philippines provide the bulk of the 240,000-
strong foreign domestic work force in Hong Kong.
Indonesia is already enforcing an unrelated temporary ban on
sending maids, babysitters and care attendants to a number of
markets including Hong Kong.
Government records show close to 2,000 Filipinos leave the
country every month to work as maids in other countries.