Stricter Rules on Window Cleaning for FDHs Eyed
Image Caption: A HK Labour Department’s poster on safe window cleaning
In what appears to be an initial victory for Philippine government officials, Hong Kong has agreed to “revisit” the exclusion of window cleaning from the tasks of domestic workers, in line with strict international standards.
This suggests that a provision will soon be added to foreign dometic helpers’ contracts, protectung them from unsafe and unsupervised window cleaning.
This was announced in a statement issued by the Philippine Consulate last night, Oct. 18.
The statement said that following a meeting between the Consulate and Hong Kong labour officials the day before, both sides agreed to look into crafting an exclusion provision in the FDH contract “which strikes a balance between occupational safety and the employer’s concerns”.
Sources say the two sides agreed to come up with the draft exclusion by Nov. 14.
The statement said that the crafting of such a safety provision must conform with international best practices, which provide that:
1) The worker must be supervised by the employer or an adult representative while cleaning windows; and
2) That window grilles have been installed and are locked throughout the cleaning process.
The statement further emphasized that the worker’s safety is paramount, and “under no circumstances should the employer subject a domestic worker to unsafe working conditions and tasks”.
The initial agreement merely put off the implementation of a ban on making Filipino domestic workers clean outside parts of windows imposed by Labor Attache Jalilo de la Torre, which was supposed to take effect last Oct.15.
In his directive, Labatt de la Torre told employment agencies that all work contracts they shall submit to the Consulate from that day should carry the said exclusion.
His move came after Philippine Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello failed to convince his Hong Kong counterpart, Matthew Cheung, to agree to the job exclusion during talks on Sept. 23
The Philippine government sought the exclusion in the wake of a rash of incidents involving Filipino maids who were killed after falling from height.
In the latest incident, 35-year-old Rinalyn Dulluog died after falling from a Lohas Park high rise on Aug.
His move prompted widespread approval from migrant workers organizations, led by the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body, but censure from employers’ groups.
An employers’ support group subsequently wrote a letter to Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, asking him to intervene in what they said was an attempt to subvert Hong Kong’s lawmaking functions.
On the eve of the implementation of the planned ban, Hong Kong labour officials requested an embargo, pending a dialogue between them and Consulate officials.
The Consulate agreed, and Labatt de la Torre issued an advisory saying the ban would be postponed for 30 days.
At a press conference held during a community event that day, Cheung said that the Hong Kong government had asked for more time in order to listen to all parties concerned before coming up with a solution.
“First of all, we attach great importance to the safety of all worker including foreign domestic helpers. We’ve got a very large population of 375,000 and of course they play a very important role in Hong Kong,” Cheung said.
He said the helpers’ safety “is something we cannot compromise” but that “we have to strike a balance between the safety of the employee and the interest of the employer”.
Cheung said the ban is not applicable to all situations because there are houses that are on the ground floor, or those with safe corridors outside or fitted with iron grilles.
That’s why he said he had asked the Consulate to suspend the ban to give Hong Kong more time to study it and conduct dialogues and take into account the views of various stakeholders including employers, employers’ groups and employment agencies.
For her part, Consul General Bernardita Catalla urged the press not to issue any report until an official statement on the talks’ outcome had been issued.
She also asked Filipinos not to criticize Labatt de la Torre for shelving the ban.
“Please don’t blame Labatt Dela Torre for that (postponement). I think that it’s only important that important issues like this be discussed openly, concurrently with Hong Kong authorities, as well as the stakeholders,” Catalla said.
Shortly after her meeting with Hong Kong’s labour officials yesterday, Congen Catalla left for Beijing to join the official delegation of President Rodrigo Duterte who is on a three-day visit for talks on bilateral issues.
(Source: SunWebHK.com)