Dozens of Hong Kong migrant domestic workers have staged a protest calling for a “living wage” of HK$6,172, among other demands.
The rally was held in front of the Harbour Building in Sheung Wan on Sunday, ahead of the Labour Department’s annual dialogue with migrant workers’ groups.
A total of 49 people joined the protest and chanted slogans, such as “We are workers, we are not slaves,” and “$6,172 living wage for all,” within a cordoned-off space.
Shiela Tebia-Bonifacio, a spokesperson for the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body (AMCB), said that the rally sought to highlight the long-standing demands of migrant domestic workers, especially regarding the living wage.
“It’s been quite a while… our demand is still the same, but it’s still unresolved, it’s still unsettled,” Tebia-Bonifacio told HKFP.
Advocates made similar demands in August last year, calling for a “living wage” of HK$6,300 per month, plus a food allowance of HK$2,700.
The Hong Kong government raised the minimum monthly wage for foreign domestic workers by 2.5 per cent in September, from HK$4,870 to HK$4,990 per month. The HK$1,236 monthly food allowance did not change.
The “living wage” refers to a salary that not only allows for an employee and their family to meet their basic needs but also to live a decent life. The current standard for living wage in Hong Kong is HK$62.8 per hour.
At the Sunday protest, Baneng Mendez, deputy secretary general of the Filipino Migrant Workers’ Union, spoke of dire working conditions and excessively long working hours faced by some migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong.
“For the past six months, our workers’ unions and the Mission for Migrant Workers documented 916 complaints from migrant domestic workers,” Mendez said. Around 41 per cent of the workers said they worked for 11 to 16 hours per day, while another 11 per cent reported they worked more than 16 hours per day.
“These figures [tell] us that modern-day slavery is real,” added Mendez.
Standard employment contracts in Hong Kong stipulate that foreign domestic workers are entitled to a rest day of at least 24 continuous hours every seven days. However, there is no statutory limit on working hours for them.
During the protest, police were seen taking headcounts and restricting protesters’ movements in and out of the designated zone. Protesters wearing masks were also asked by police to remove them.
The police told HKFP on Monday that officers at the scene reminded the protest organisers “as usual,” to ensure the entire activity complied with the national security law and other relevant laws.
First Sunday dialogue
The latest meeting was also the first time that the annual dialogue between the Labour Department and migrant labour groups was held on a Sunday.
While leaders of migrant workers’ organisations appreciated that the meeting took place on Sunday, they also expressed disappointment that only a select number of groups in the community were able to attend the dialogue with the department.
According to a press release from the AMCB, around 50 migrant domestic worker organisations were refused permission to participate in the dialogue by the Labour Department.
Tebia-Bonifacio told HKFP that the AMCB knew around 70 organisations that had registered to join the meeting. However, only “around 20 that got accepted,” she said, adding that the 20 groups had already joined the weekday dialogues in previous years.
“So that’s why we didn’t get the point of doing it on Sunday,” said Tebia-Bonifacio.
Mendez concurred, also pointing out that the same organisations and leaders who were invited to past meetings were able to attend the dialogue on Sunday.
“There are more leaders in the community like me,” said Mendez, who was not invited to the Sunday meeting.
While the Labour Department did not directly respond to HKFP’s enquiry about some migrant organisations being refused permission to participate in the dialogue, it said by email on Monday that invitations for the dialogue were sent to a “wide range of organisations.”
It also said that “all the invited organisations which confirmed their attendance were accommodated. As per practice, we will review and adjust the invitation list for future review exercises as appropriate.”
