Kuwait may ban 'super maids' with big pay

The Philippine government's "super maids" policy to set higher wages for "better-trained" Filipino domestic workers may backfire: Labor recruiters in Kuwait are not too happy with the almost threefold raise in the monthly salary of Filipino domestic helpers, which may prompt them to close the door on Filipino domestic workers. In the online edition of the Arab Times (www.arabtimesonline.com), the paper reported that recruitment agencies branded the move "unfair and unacceptable." According to the report, Filipino workers who are already employed in Kuwait can demand the new salary when their contracts expire. The previous rate is 45 Kuwait dinars, or P7,740 (at the current exchange rate of P172 to the dinar). But Hashem Majed, manager of the Kuwait Union of Domestic Labour Offices (KUDLO), said that the measure will negatively affect the flow of new Filipino domestics to Kuwait. "Given the high salary of the Filipino maids, recruitment agencies will now prefer to hire domestic helpers from other countries," Majed said. "The Philippines government should have taken the Kuwaiti authorities into confidence before taking the decision as both countries share excellent ties based on mutual trust." He said that if there were to be a shortage, "we will turn to workers from other countries if at all there is a shortage in the future." He noted the Lebanese government recently banned the recruitment of Filipino domestic workers because of the salary hike. KUDLO has repatriated a large number of distressed maids and has also provided shelter to runaway maids in addition to helping them recover unpaid salaries from their sponsors. It is also working with the concerned government authorities to establish "permanent shelters" for runaway maids and talks on this issue have reached an advanced stage. On the other hand, a Kuwaiti employer interviewed by the paper, Mohammad Enezi, said he may replace his three Filipina domestic helpers with Indonesians if the hike pushes through. "I can ill afford to pay each maid KD120," Enezi said. "I don’t attach much importance to the nationality of my maid as long as she gets the job done. The decision will also create a sense of frustration among domestic helpers of other countries. All maids regardless of their country should be treated on an equal footing as they put in the same number of hours and increasing salaries of one particular segment of workers amounts to unfairness." Another prospective employer, Bader Al-Maktoum, said even some people working in the private sector are not getting 120 Kuwaiti dinars a month. "This is a lame excuse by the Philippine government to discourage its domestic workers from taking up jobs overseas. It will be interesting to see if the measure applies only to Kuwait or internationally," he added. - GMANews.TV