{"id":17502,"date":"2020-11-13T11:38:39","date_gmt":"2020-11-13T03:38:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/?p=17502"},"modified":"2021-06-23T15:25:13","modified_gmt":"2021-06-23T07:25:13","slug":"overworked-and-underprotected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/2020\/11\/overworked-and-underprotected\/","title":{"rendered":"Overworked and Underprotected"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Vulnerable migrant workers being discriminated and exploited during COVID-19.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Bonita Wong<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

More recognition and protection should be given to nearly 400,000 migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong, especially to those suffering from heavy workload and unfair treatment during the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Filipino domestic helper Lia* needs to juggle taking care of a seven-month-old baby and more daily work as her employers are currently working from home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe workload doubles. Before COVID-19, I just need to cook dinner. But then when my employers work from home, I need to cook breakfast, lunch and dinner,\u201d Lia says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lia has been working in Hong Kong for three years. \u201cThe problem that I am struggling with is pressure. My employers work in a bank, and their work is really a stressful one, especially given the economic status of Hong Kong now. Because they are pressured, and they are at home, so they check every single detail of my work,\u201d Lia says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Banner by migrant worker unions on Chater Road, Central.
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The situation improved when the second helper reported duty in June. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEven we have a second worker, I am responsible for everything. If the second worker did not do her job properly, the blame is on me. Also, both of my employers are foreigners, I am not used to their expressions and I am very sensitive about that, so emotionally I am so depressed at first,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to an online survey<\/a> conducted in March by Asian Migrants Coordinating Body \u2013 the first and biggest coalition of migrant worker association and union in Hong Kong, more than half foreign domestic helpers had the same experience as Lia that their workloads increased. 40 per cent of the 1,127 respondents did not have weekly rest days as stated in their contracts.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lia\u2019s employers asked her not to go out on Sundays when Hong Kong was hit by the third wave of COVID-19 in July. She had to meet her friends online for five weeks. Fortunately, Lia has her own room and toilet, and her employers did not assign her any work on rest days.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut the discrimination is still there. When the number of cases goes down, they say \u2018okay you can go out but please don\u2019t meet your friends,\u201d Lia says. \u201cWhy should I not meet my friends and you can let your friends visit us in the house? We workers have strict self-discipline. We have family in the Philippines waiting for us. If we are sick, we are alone. Why can\u2019t I meet my friends? Do you mean that we Filipinos or migrant workers carry the virus?\u201d she argues.      <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Migrant domestic workers packing parcels to send back home.
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201c<\/strong>Why can\u2019t I meet my friends?\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>
<\/strong>Do <\/strong><\/em>you mean that we Filipinos or migrant workers carry the virus?\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Lia says she is fortunate to have masks and alcohol sprays from her employer because she knows many workers are treated unfairly and do not receive proper protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMigrant workers are frontliners (who fight against the pandemic) as well. We are the ones who look after the cleanliness (hygiene) of the house, going in and out of the house to get food and protective materials for families,\u201d says Shiela Tebia-Bonifacio, chairperson of Gabriela Hong Kong, an alliance supporting Filipinos in the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMany of us cannot go out and some are not compensated well for overtime work. If you don\u2019t have your own room, what can you do inside the house? You work. Do you expect migrant workers to sit down with their boss on the sofa on Sunday?\u201d Tebia-Bonifacio says. \u201cBefore COVID-19, migrant workers are already complaining, some are working 16-20 hours a day, staying up till 11 p.m. to 12 a.m. Now it\u2019s worse,\u201d Tebia-Bonifacio adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These frontliners in the city\u2019s battle against the pandemic not only need to bear heavier workload and hardship at work amid the pandemic, some are forced to live with their employers when they are tested positive for COVID-19 or had close contacts with the infected. 
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kuya Edwin, a domestic helper from the Philippines, recalled her anxieties in July. She was required to have two-week self-quarantine with her employer after the son of the family had close contact with an infected patient when attending a dinner gathering earlier that month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was so worried during the 14 days. I was also very scared of doing the swab test as I really hate needles and things like that. And he (employer\u2019s son) only kept saying sorry. I stayed at home for two weeks with no holidays,\u201d says Edwin who has been working in Hong Kong for 28 years.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luckily, her employer\u2019s son was tested negative. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can say a lot of migrant workers are experiencing long working hours and no day offs. We have a lot of members crying saying about how their employer treated them (badly),\u201d Tebia-Bonifacio says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have a lot of members crying saying about how their employer treated them (badly).\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

But no worker dares to file a formal complaint, fearing they may lose the job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy aren\u2019t they complaining? Just because of termination. If they complain, it means they risk termination. Are they really prepared for termination? No, because they have family back home who are relying on them,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gabriela Hong Kong pointed out the government fails to offer a helping hand to foreign domestic workers. It turned its back on worker\u2019s inhumane working conditions and stigmatize foreign domestic workers instead of promoting social inclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concern groups like Gabriela Hong Kong, Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants and Mission For Migrant Workers designed, printed and distributed information leaflets with updated policies concerning COVID-19 and virus testing. They also teach workers to safeguard their labour rights and welfare and distribute free face masks, hand sanitizers to workers on Sundays. 
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Police on standby in Central.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

These should be employers and Hong Kong government\u2019s responsibility,\u201d Tebia-Bonifacio says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was furious when the Labour Department urged foreign domestic helpers to stay at home on rest days in January and March and avoid going out for social activities on rest days such as meal gatherings.     <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very discriminatory when they say please don\u2019t go out during your holidays. From Monday to Saturday, you let your helper go to the market, do the errands, and you don\u2019t care about the virus? But then for just the day that they can take a rest, be free from their work, you tell them not to go out to not get the virus. So are you telling us that the virus is only active during Sunday? Or are you telling us the virus is only in the migrant workers\u2019 -community?\u201d Tebia-Bonifacio says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe also need a rest like you. Sitting on the streets is our way of rest. That one day will recharge our body, our mind,\u201d she adds.  \u201cThere are a lot of ways to protect migrant workers. But don\u2019t tell us to protect us by not letting us go out on our day off.  The Hong Kong government should at least recognise our contribution and provide us with proper protection. But not singling us out, not discrimination, but inclusion,\u201d she says.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe also need a rest like you.\u00a0
Sitting on the streets is our way of rest. That one day will recharge our body, our mind.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>

<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

*Name changed at interviewee\u2019s request<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edited by Howard Li<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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