THE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has said the
Hong Kong government will announce a "moderate" increase in the wages of foreign
domestic workers not later than June 2008.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said this was the report of
Acting Labor Secretary Marianito Roque to President Arroyo over the weekend.
Arroyo ordered Roque to stay behind in Hong Kong after she
attended the Asian Investors Conference in order to meet with the officials of
the Special Administrative Region (SAR) to negotiate an adjustment in the wages
of overseas Filipino workers, particularly the domestic helpers.
Roque said Permanent Secretary for Labor and Welfare Matthew
Cheung of the Hong Kong SAR and Hong Kong authorities are just waiting for the
statistical data on consumer price index, gross domestic product and other
economic indicators at the end of April before they can determine the amount of
increase in the foreign workers' wages.
He said Cheung promised to inform the Philippine Consulate
General in Hong Kong of the wage increase a few minutes before making the public
announcement.
He said the salary of foreign domestic workers is HK$3,480 a
month, which is HK$270 less than the salary in 2003.
The Hong Kong government imposed a HK$400 levy against the
employers in 2003 that resulted in an equivalent reduction in the wages of
foreign domestic workers. The monthly wage has been raised in the past two years
by HK$50 and HK$80, respectively.
Roque said the Hong Kong Labor and Welfare Department estimates that there
were 125,000 Filipino household workers in Hong Kong in 2007, representing 50
percent of the household workers' population. The other half are Indonesians. He
said 28,000 additional expatriate managers settle in Hong Kong every year, most
of them needing the services of household helps. - Regina Bengco
