Maids to sue Hong Kong
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Hundreds of domestic helpers have taken to the streets of Hong Kong protesting the wage cut.
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HONG KONG (Reuters) -- Thousands of foreign maids will sue the Hong Kong government for discrimination over plans to cut their minimum wages and tax their employers, a rights group said on Sunday.
The Philippines, which temporarily banned its nationals from going to Hong Kong to work as maids, said it would take a case to the International Labor Organisation (ILO) and was talking to lawyers about legal action against the Chinese territory.
Hong Kong said last month it will impose a monthly levy of HK$400 ($51) on 240,000 foreign maids -- most of them from the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Nepal -- from October as part of efforts to contain a swelling budget deficit.
The levy will be paid by employers, but the plan drew fire because the government is also cutting the women's HK$3,670 minimum wage by HK$400 for work contracts signed from April.
"We will file legal action against the Hong Kong government," Connie Bragas-Regalado, a spokeswoman for the 10,000-strong Asian Migrants Co-ordinating Body, told Reuters. "At this stage, we are still preparing how to do it."
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo vowed on Saturday to make a complaint to the ILO, but gave no details.
Her spokesman Ignacio Bunye said Manila's labour attache in Hong Kong already was working on a lawsuit.
Manila's temporary ban, imposed last week, was "the right approach to pressure the Hong Kong government," Bunye told a radio station on Sunday.
Hong Kong's government declined to comment.
Foreign maids are among the lowest-paid workers in Hong Kong, and often toil up to 15 hours a day to send much of their wages home to support their families.
The remittances are a vital source of hard currency for the Philippines and provide food, clothing and shelter to about a quarter of the population of 80 million.
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