Pinoys, other foreign workers in HK to seek higher pay

MANILA, Philippines - Filipinos and other foreign domestic workers are preparing to demand a raise now that the situation in Hong Kong is slowly returning to normal.

Eni Lestari, Asian Migrants Coordinating Body spokesman, said foreign domestic workers, including Filipinos, are in dire need of a wage hike.

The demand for a raise had to be delayed due to the protest action against the Hong Kong government, she added.

Lestari said foreign domestic helpers are disappointed over the Hong Kong government’s announcement of a HK$100 hike in the monthly minimum allowable wage and HK$44 in food allowance.

The amount is far short of their demand that their monthly salary be raised to HK$4,500 and food allowance to HK$1,600, she added.

Lestari said their call for a significant increase in the minimum allowable wage is based on the inflation rate in Hong Kong that has greatly increased the prices of goods.

“With all our direct and indirect contribution to Hong Kong’s economy, the government is still very much determined to maintain foreign domestic helpers as one of the cheapest workers in Hong Kong,” she said.

“With how the government has been treating us the past years, there is no doubt in our minds that workers like us are not their first priority when it comes to coping with economic hardships.”

Lestari said the Hong Kong labor department did not take into account the position of foreign domestic helpers in their annual review of salary rates.

“We shall continue our demand for a significant wage hike,” she said. “We are workers and not slaves and deserve better treatment than what this government has been giving us.”