Migrant domestic workers ask Hong Kong for 11 hours of uninterrupted rest

AMCB members march to the Central Government Offices on March 8

MARKING International Women’s Day, members of the the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body
(AMCB-IMA) urged Hong Kong to give migrant domestic workers (MDWs) a “living wage” and 11 hours of uninterrupted
rest.

The migrant rights group also urged the Hong Kong government to increase the minimum allowable wage to HK$5,500
from the current HK$ 4,520 and a $2,500 monthly allowance from the current $1,075.

The AMCB held a picket at the Central Government Offices (CGO) in Admiralty on March 8 and submitted their petition to a government representative.

The group said foreign domestic workers should have 11 hours of “uninterrupted rest for two consecutive working days
plus three meal breaks” and “decent accommodation.”

“The rest hour regulation and decent and humane accommodation should be stipulated in the contract, and amending
the contract is essential,” the AMCB said.

It also called for the prosecution of recruitment agencies that continuously collect illegal fees and overcharge migrant
domestic workers.

“A stronger migrant women solidarity movement remains a challenge for the MDW organizations in order to achieve
their campaign that will regulate working hours, improve working and living conditions, and increase wages,” the AMCB
said.

“Specifically, there is a need to arouse, organize and mobilize the biggest number among the 90 percent women migrant
domestic workers population in Hong Kong,” it added.

The group noted that International Women’s Day started when unjust working conditions suffered by members of the Ladies
Garment Workers Union in New York triggered a strike in 1908 that would mark an international day of protest for
equal rights for working women all over the world.

“Nowadays, women from poor countries like the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Nepal and Sri Lanka leave their
families to work as modern-day slaves in Hong Kong,” the group said.

The AMCB also scored the government’s non-ratification of the International Labor Organization Convention No. 189
“and imposing more neoliberal policies.”

Defending Hong Kong’s record, Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung said the government had a clear record in protecting the city’s 390,000 foreign domestic workers and fighting human trafficking.

He noted that the Labour Department had set up a hotline for MDWs while erring employment agencies had been punished.