“Include FDWs in the SMW bill”
Foreign maids appeal to Legco: “do not be a stamp pad of the Exco”

08 July 2009

“We appeal to the members of the Legislative Council (LegCo) to not be a stamp pad of the Executive Committee (ExCo). Show to the public and to the world you are compassionate, just and non-discriminatory to those who already have less in the Hong Kong society. Include foreign domestic workers (FDWs) in the Statutory Minimum Wage (SMW) bill.”

This was the message of Eni Lestari, spokesperson of the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body (AMCB) as members of the group staged a protest action at the LegCo building in Central in time for the first reading of the proposed bill of the ExCo on the Statutory Minimum Wage (SMW) that excluded FDWs.

“We have lost hope with the ExCo for, time and again, they have shown their disdain for migrant workers in Hong Kong. They treat us as second-class, or even third-class, citizens and has never hesitated in reducing us to a slave-like status,” she added.

Lestari said that AMCB shall actively work to gather the widest support among the LegCo members in their bid to include the FDWs in the bill.

The group relayed their plans to lobby individual LegCo members, citizen’s groups, trade unions and even churches in Hong Kong to build support for their advocacy. Lestari reported that they shall also appeal to local employers for support “and relieve them of their fear for ridiculous wage increases that the ExCo has been using to scare off the public from our inclusion to the SMW.”

“Any wage increase in the SMW will undergo deliberations and LegCo decision. What we aim for is for FDW wage to be released from the arbitrary, unaccountable and non-transparent process of the ExCo and be moved to the LegCo where we, at least, can have a level playing field in terms of advocacy,” she said.

Lestari said that the ExCo’s justifications for the exclusion such as ‘protection of disadvantaged sectors’ and for the ‘promotion of social harmony’ are hypocritical.

“Are we not members of the disadvantaged sectors and are we not part of the HK society? These reasons of the ExCo not only exclude us from the SMW but also from the whole social structure in Hong Kong. This is the height of discrimination by the HK ExCo,” she remarked.

Additionally, Lestari argued that the ExCo should not use the so-called ‘in-kind benefits’ of FDWs as reason for exclusion because, she said, “items such as food and accommodation are necessary provisions that should be given to FDWs by virtue of us being live-in workers.”

“We cannot be an extension of the social service of the government to the employers. We too are workers,” she stressed.

Lestari also said that they will seek out international support for the campaign for inclusion such as lobbying with the International Labour Organization (ILO) and with trade unions of different countries.

“We are prepared to make this decision for exclusion a source of international shame for the ExCo. It is now up to the LegCo to salvage the reputation of Hong Kong that has been severely tarnished by the ExCo,” she said.

Finally, Lestari reported that the AMCB is exploring all venues to challenge the exclusion of FDWs including seeking out legal opinions for their planned filing of judicial review if other lobbying efforts fail.

“We shall not take infringement to our rights sitting down. We stand for what is just and right and we sincerely hope that the LegCo and the local people of Hong Kong will stand with us,” she concluded.#