Migrant workers demonstrate in Hong Kong

Pranjal Tiwari

On 15 December 2002, 3,000 migrant workers and their supporters met to reclaim thestreets of central Hong Kong, to protest against another discriminatorygovernment proposal: a targeted flat tax of HK$500 per month (aboutUS$65), aimed at the wages of Hong Kong's Foreign Domestic Helpers(FDHs). That this gathering took place on a Sunday was an importantfactor--for many of the protesters, this was the one day's holiday they aregiven per week by their employers.
There was a charged atmosphere asexcited protesters prepared for the hourlong march to the Central GovernmentOffices unfurling colourful banners, and tying bright strips of yellow and red clotharound each others' heads, the words "NO TO WAGE CUTS!" painted in whiteacross them. Even at this early stage, the police were confused.
"Who is in charge here?" a senior officer barked at one of the protesters, only tobe met with a genuine shrug. As the crowd took shape, and we waited for themarch to being, an old man rode by on his bicycle. "I support you," he shouted"Don't give the bastards anything! They want $500, don't even give `em $5!"

Doing your bit!

The tax being proposed by the government is a deplorable, highly selective levy.Though it ostensibly charges employers the monthly rate of HK$500, the mini-mum wage of FDHs will also be lowered by the same amount if the levy is enacted.This is the latest in a series of antimigrant proposals the Special Adminis-trativeRegion government has attempted to pass over the last few years. Two yearsago a direct 20% levy on migrants' wages was proposed, and a HK$500-750 levywas floated just last year. Both were defeated after massive, popular protestsfrom migrant worker communities and their allies, forcing the government toconsider more indirect forms of taxation, such as the present proposal.
The earlier measures were also too obviously discriminatory to be whole-heartedly endorsed by any political party in the territory. The current proposal,however, has a number of powerful backers in Hong Kong's political centres. Thepro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB), pro-business Liberal Party, and the so-called Progressive Alliance have all thrown theirweight behind the idea, saying that such a direct siphoning of money to the richfrom poor, unprotected sectors of society was a "difficult and painful decision" butthat migrants had to do their bit to "help the economy".

Fighting for fair treatment

Naturally, most human beings, and particularly migrant workers' unions andsupport groups, have been completely appalled by the proposals and the ferocitywith which they are being pursued by the government. The Asian Migrants Coordi-nating Body (AMCB), for example, calls the proposed levy and its predecessors"institutionalised robbery in the making", saying rightly that "[they] rob fromthose who are already plunged deep in economic problems... taxing those whoare already struggling to make ends meet". Requests from migrant workers'groups to discuss the levy with government officials have been denied.Smaller, more "alternative" media have also been highly critical of the govern-ment's moves. Filipino community newspaper The Sun, for example, pointed outin an editorial that migrant workers "have done their part in making HongKong the economic success that it is now. For this alone, they have the right to betreated fair and square."
Of course, most outraged have been theproposed victims themselves, the nearly 240,000 Foreign Domestic Helpers wholive and work in Hong Kong. They are mostly women, and have come here frommany countries around Asia--most often the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, SriLanka, and Nepal. As individuals and as a sector of society, they are some of the mostvulnerable, marginalised, and easily exploited in the territory. But their manyvoices came together on 15 December in a brave, lively, and spirited challenge tothe government's attack on their lives and livelihood.

Collective support

Walking through the Central Business District, the protesters screamed sloganssuch as "THE LEVY IS DEAD WRONG!" as they carried large, mock$500 bills. They also held enlarged pictures of Tsang Yok Sing of the DAB,James Tien of the Liberal Party, and Ambrose Lam of the Progressive Alliance,with the words "Enemy of the poor" printed under each of them. Appeals suchas "Respect Workers' Rights", "End Modern Day Slavery", and "Workers ofthe World Unite" were all prominently displayed, along with such simple pleas as"Spare $500 for our families".
    They beat drums and gongs, andcrashed cymbals, and a positive, festive atmosphere prevailed despite the powerfuland insidious forces aligning against them. They were cheered from the pavementsby fellow migrants and local supporters as they made their way to the Central Gov-ernment Offices.
    Thousands of people then packed intothe Central Government's premises to listen to speakers from Thai, Sri Lankan,Nepalese, Filipino and Indonesian workers' groups. "We are the people who clean your houses!" one speaker screamed. "We sleepon your kitchen floors. This is an attack on us!" Other speakers pointed out thatmigrant workers are always the easiest scapegoats for politicians and groupsseeking a quick route to power. The only way to stop this, they said, was to collec-tivise, and to actively support each other.
    "Long live international solidarity!" thecrowd responded. A government representative later came out to be presented witha 20,000-strong petition against the levy. The gathering eventually disbanded,its participants returning for another week to their jobs, and an uncertainfuture. But they left promising to continue their struggle in defence of theirrights, dignity, and welfare. Another march was planned for early 2003.
    "Migrant workers are a very vulnerable sector of society, but these proposals havebrought them out to the streets to protest," a member of United Filipinos inHong Kong said. "They are out here because they have to be. Because this tar-gets their means of survival."

Pranjal Tiwari is an independent journalist in Hong Kong.
This is an edited extract from an article which originally published on ZNet. Visit http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm ?SectionID=44&ItemID=2762 to read the whole text.
Read Pranjal's latest article on how the SARS virus has been used as an economic weapon against migrant workers in Hong Kong at http://zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=44&ItemID=3568