RP to protest cut in pay of HK maids

Another day, another protest.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will protest the plan of the Hong Kong Administrative Region to impose a five percent wage reduction on the salaries of foreign domestic helpers in place of the HK$500 levy earlier proposed on the foreign workers’ paychecks.

The DFA said the Philippine government will negotiate with HKSAR officials to prevent the imposition of the salary cut, which will affect close to 200,000 Filipino domestic helpers in the former British Crown colony.

In a report from the home office, Philippine consul general to Hong Kong Victoria Bataclan said the post will make strong representations to stop the reduction of foreign domestic helpers’ salaries.

Last year, HKSAR legislators proposed the HK$500 levy to be charged to employers of foreign maids and cutting the domestic helpers’ minimum wage by the same amount in an effort to raise $1.4 billion to address HKSAR’s ballooning budget deficit.

The proposed tax also aims to reduce employment of foreign maids and boost job opportunities for local workers.

The wage cut eyes by HKSAR for foreign domestic helpers would bring their monthly take home pay from HK$3,670 ($470) to HK$3,487 ($447) – a reduction of HK$183 ($23).

The five percent levy, on the other hand could be between HK$400 and HK$700. Foreign maids in Hong Kong had their wages cut from HK$495 to HK$470 at the height of the Asian economic crisis that marred the late 1990s.

Foreign maids from the Philippines, Nepal, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand, as well as diplomatic officials from these countries, have aired strong protests against the proposed wage cut and levy, prompting HKSAR to reconsider these planned policies.

Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas met in December last year with HKSAR Secretary for Economic Development and Labor Stephen Ip and asked HKSAR to defer its plans to impose the proposed wage cut.

Sto. Tomas warned that if HKSAR continues to implement the levy despite repeated appeals for the region not to do so, the Philippine government will stop deploying Filipino domestic helpers to Hong Kong.

Government officials explained the country is not without options if the terms and conditions of employment become inadequate because Filipino workers are very much in demand in other countries.

Sto. Tomas said Filipino domestic helpers may be retrained as caregivers and redeployed in Europe, Canada and the United States.

Meanwhile, opposition Sen. Tessie Aquino-Oreta urged Malacañang to renew its diplomatic lobby before HKSAR to convince Hong Kong officials to defer the proposed wage cut for domestic helpers in the Chinese territory.

Oreta said the planned wage cut is no better than the proposal to impose a levy on foreign domestic helpers’ employers.

"Domestic helpers in Hong Kong should not be made to bear the brunt of the region’s fiscal problems, considering they are among the lowest paid workers there," Oreta said in a statement.

"Our labor and foreign affairs officials should renew diplomatic efforts to spare our Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong from its wage cut plan... for overseas Filipino workers there who are already earning low salaries compared to other workers in the region, this wage cut could still hit them hard."