Hong Kong migrant domestic workers unions ‘dismayed,’ ‘disappointed’ by HK$120 increase to monthly salary
Hong Kong Free Press
Migrant domestic workers’ union organisations have said they are “dismayed” and “disappointed” by the HK$120 increase to domestic workers’ minimum monthly salary.
The government on Friday announced a 2.5 per cent rise in the minimum wage paid to migrant domestic workers in the city, raising their monthly salary from HK$4,870 to HK$4,990 for contracts signed on, or after, Saturday. There was no change to workers’ food allowance, which currently stands at HK$1,236 per month, or roughly HK$40 per day.
“We are very much dismayed with the result of the Minimum Allowable Wage review, as the increase was piecemeal,” the Asian Migrants’ Coordinating Body (AMCB) said in a statement on Friday evening. The coalition said the HK$120 increase would provide only “slight relief for the suffering and slave wage of migrant domestic workers in the city.”
The Hong Kong Federation of Asian Domestic Workers Unions (FADWU), meanwhile, told HKFP: “We are disappointed to know that the government only raised HK$120 to migrant workers salary, less than last year and nowhere near our living wage demand of HK$6,300 per month.”
Citing research published in 2019 by Enrich, a charity promoting the economic empowerment of migrant domestic workers, FADWU last month said that domestic workers contributed 3.6 per cent to Hong Kong’s economy and allowed 30 per cent of the local female workforce to work. However, they are paid the equivalent of HK$6.7 per hour. Minimum wage in the city is HK$40.
Living wage
Home to over 300,000 migrant domestic workers – most of whom come from the Philippines and Indonesia – local and expatriate families in Hong Kong have long employed domestic workers to manage households. This frees up women, who have historically been assigned such tasks, to enter the workforce and become economically active.
Ahead of the annual pay review, domestic workers’ right organisations including the AMCB and FADWU lobbied for a “living wage” of at least HK$6,000 and a food allowance of over HK$2,000.
According to the Progressive Labour Union of Domestic Workers in Hong Kong (PLU), many employers offered to provide food rather than give workers the HK$1,236 allowance. However, domestic workers are not always given enough to eat, or are restricted in when and what they could eat. Some go hungry, the union said.
“We are also disappointed that there is no increase of food allowance at all, despite of inflation every year,” FADWU told HKFP.
Domestic workers in Hong Kong are often the main breadwinners in their family, and send much of what they earn to support parents, siblings, children in their home country.
“Most of the migrant domestic workers… the wage is not enough for them to support their family back home,” a member of the PLU told HKFP in July.
The AMCB said in its Friday statement that domestic workers, “like all of Hong Kong are dealing with the rising costs of their basic goods in Hong Kong due to inflation.”
“This small increase is just the latest step by the government in continuing to treat us MDWs as modern-day slaves despite our contributions to Hong Kong families and the local economy,” the coalition added, saying also that it remained committed to working to improve the situation of domestic workers in the city.
FADWU also criticised what it called a “double standard.”
“Why is it double standard[s], when the government decide the public servant would get a wage increase of 3 per cent for 2024-25, but migrants only get [a] 2.5 per cent increase in salary and no increase in food allowance? Do we not live in the same city and pay the same price for everything?” the federation asked.
‘Contribution’ to society
A spokesperson from the Labour Department told HKFP last month that the government “recognises the contribution of foreign domestic helpers (FDHs) to our society,” adding that “Hong Kong is one of the few places in the world where FDHs can enjoy the same statutory labour protection as local workers under the Employment Ordinance and other Hong Kong laws.”
However, unlike most Hong Kong employees domestic workers are barred from changing their job at will, and have no pathway to permanent residency.
The spokesperson went on to say that domestic workers were “provided with further protection not usually available for local workers,” specifying a Government-stipulated Standard Employment Contract for domestic workers, under which there are provisions including those for a minimum allowable wage, food or a food allowance, and accommodation.
Under Hong Kong’s regulations, domestic workers must live in their employers’ homes and have only one rest day a week.
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