Organizing Domestic Workers HONG KONG FEDERATION OF ASIAN DOMESTIC WORKERS UNION (FADWU) Thank you ILO and the ASEAN Forum for inviting FADWU in this important platform and giving a chance to migrant workers listen to their voice. I hope by the end of my presentation i can deliever a message to everyone to support DW Briefly i will be talking about FADWU in general and HK policies on DW and basically the situation

Introduction of FADWU FADWU comprises of unions of local and migrant domestic workers with different nationalities (Thai, Chinese, Filipinos & Nepalese 5 affiliates with members from 4 nationality. Membership around 1200. We are affiliated to HKCTU (Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions), an independent trade union organization in Hong Kong. We are also affiliated to IDWF. We aim at organizing all domestic workers in solidarity to fight for our rights and collective bargaining power.

Over 351,531 Migrant Domestic Workers Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, South Asian Countries such as Nepal, India, Sri Lanka and Myanmar Around 10,000 Local Domestic Workers Majority : Filipino, Indonesian

Laws and Policies in Hong Kong for Domestic workers (DW) DWs are recognized as Workers in laws: e.g. Employment ordinance, Trade Union Ordinance etc: DWs and migrants enjoy basic labour rights: weekly day offs, statutory holidays, wage protection, severance payments/ long-term payment etc. Migrant and Local DW can register as union or form any kind of group.

Why is it important to organize them? Social visibility and representation Share Unity Empowerment Fight in solidarity Collective Bargaining Safe & Standard Regulation Protect each other !

How can they be organized ? Unity in different nationalities Fighting against exploitation from employment agency FADWU successfully pushed for the government more monitoring on the agencies: the Code of Practice for Employment Agencies ( JAN,2017) Divide the team into 3 :1. Media 2. Case 3. Research

Challenges Workers are facing Filipino / ODWU Thai Nepali Local Workers Indonesian Excessive employment agency charge Confiscation of passports Exploitation of their basic labour right Employment agency charge Medical charge discrimination 2. Nepal Visa Ban 3. Brokers excessive charge Casual Workers Unprotected occupational illness Overcharging 2. Keeping passport and the employment contract. 3. No direct hiring 4. Has to be use the agency to process the contract from Indonesia. Lack of monitoring on regulation Not responsive consulate / regulator HK and standing country doesn’t match ( 10% charge ) 10% 0% fee ( training fees) 15,000 peso ( training medical )

Practice in Organizing Domestic workers Alliance Building Strengthens empowerment Understand each other’s hardship Build leaderships

Recommendation Recognize Domestic Workers as Workers Recognize Freedom of association Ensure weekly day off Stand firm against slavery