Press Release
15 April 2011
For reference: Dolores Balladares
�� � � �Chairperson
�� � � �Tel. No.: 97472986
Filipino workers in HK to vie for economic relief on Labor Day
Wage and price increases take top spots as worker�s issues
�Inflation, soaring prices of goods and decreasing value of our already low wage: Filipino migrant workers are getting squeezed by the economic hardships as both as workers in Hong Kong and as breadwinners of our family in the Philippines. We need and will call for immediate economic relief.�
This was declared today by Dolores Balladares, chairperson of the militant group United Filipinos in Hong Kong (UNIFIL-MIGRANTE-HK) as the group and its allies prepares to join the action of local trade unions in Hong Kong in the coming May Day. As well, OFW groups allied with the UNIFIL are also doing an action to call for the Philippine government to deliver its promises of bettering the lives of OFWs.
�This May First is very significant to foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong for it is on this day that the Statutory Minimum Wage will start to take effect. We were summarily excluded from this policy that could have provided us with a better fighting chance in terms of protecting our wage and advocating for a more significant increase,� she remarked.
Current wage of foreign helpers in Hong Kong is HK$3,580 per month. This is lower than the HK$3,670 wage in 2002 and even much lower than the HK$3860 foreign maid�s wage in 1998.
�Considering the steep rise of the cost of living in Hong Kong including the skyrocketing price for food, the wage of FDWs is definitely not enough. We have already been exclude din the SMW. Now, the Minimum Allowable Wage which governs our salary is also under review and there has been no effort yet form the HK government to reach to us FDWs. In times of crisis, our wage is one of the first to be hit but in times of economic recovery, FDWs are left in the gutter,� she added.
Meanwhile, the Philippine government, Balladares said, has also significantly contributed to the economic hardships OFWs experience.
�The Aquino government has allowed monopoly oil companies to squeeze consumers for even the last drop of profit they can get. Prices of basic staples have skyrocketed. Transportation costs are through the roof. This coming June, we are again expecting another round of fee increases for our children or siblings going to school,� Balladares relayed.
Balladares also hit the government for being silent on issues of passport costs, off-loading, illegal fees by recruitment agencies, government charges to OFWs and neglect of those who are in distress.�
�If the country is really on a righteous path, then OFWs are clearly not included in this road. Thus we march in force this coming May Day. At this time of hardships, migrant worker�s welfare and relief must be put in the agenda both of the Hong Kong and Philippine governments,� she concluded.
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The Secretariat
United Filipinos in Hong Kong (UNIFIL-MIGRANTE-HK)
2/F., New Hall, St. John's Cathedral,
4 Garden Road, Central, Hong Kong SAR
Tel. (852) 3156-2447� �� Fax. (852) 2526-2894
E-mail: secretariat@unifil.org.hk
Website: http://www.unifil.org.hk
Blog: compatriots.blogspot.com
YouTube: www.youtube.com/unifilhk
