Malta needs a help desk for guest workers
I have long thought how pressing the need is for a help desk for guest workers, and after reading this horrid story, I really do think that the government cannot afford to put off taking action any longer.
This is not something that should be dumped on voluntary organisations. It is very much a central government matter.
The number of housemaids and other domestic servants from The Philippines has increased greatly and will continue to increase.
The number of African migrant workers with protected or refugee status has increased too.
All of these are extremely vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.
They do not know their rights, the law, the obligations of those who employ them, and they are often too scared to stand up for themselves.
I have observed situations where Maltese tradesmen are accompanied by African migrant workers who, I suspect, are given some kind of small ‘tip’ rather than a proper wage. I have sometimes tipped these migrant workers myself when their Maltese ‘boss’ is not looking because I got the feeling that if the boss saw the tip, he would take it off his helper and his helper, not knowing his rights, would let him do so.
The Filippinas are probably worse off. For some reason, lots of people who employ them seem to believe that Maltese labour laws do not apply to them – that because they are Filippinas, they have a special working system for Filippinas. This involves working 12-hour days and sometimes longer, six days a week with only Sundays off.
Nobody appears to have told either the Filippina maids or their employers that, like all other employees, they can’t be made to work more than a 40-hour week.
In one situation I knew of a few years ago, the Filippia ‘housekeeper’ did all the work the woman of the house would normally do (which means no working hours), and after a whole day of cleaning, cooking, shopping and laundry would look after the children in the evening while their parents went out. She would then pull out a folding bed in the cubby-hole beneath the stairs and sleep there. She did this six days a week. It was like something from the early years of the last century, except that servants in those days slept in their own quarters and not in the recess beneath the main stairs.
There really has to be an accessible office in Valletta where these people can go for help if they need it, or to report abuse of any kind.
I think it is important, too, that guest workers have their rights explained to them when they receive a work permit, and not just their obligations. When and if a help office is set up, all guest workers should be given the number printed in large format, to keep in case they need it.
People like this come from an environment in which they are accustomed to being badly treated and having their rights trampled on. They might not even know they have rights. That is why it is so easy for the abusive to exploit them and ill-treat them.
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http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140806/local/housemaid-fed-spoonfuls-of-salt-and-paid-6-for-a-years-work-court-hears.530835
If what is being alleged by the prosecution is true, then there is some similarity with this case: http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/sites/eng/pages/search.aspx?i=001-114032
I agree. This is a shocking story and should not be happening in a civilised society.
Not to worry. This Government and the GWU are ‘committed’ to fight precarious working conditions, or so they say.
Paroli u priedki ta’ kliem sabih fuq il-haddiema u d-drittijiet tal-bniedem ghandna kemm trid kieku, In-nies fatti trid tara.
Kemm se jdum iblah dal-poplu imdorri johlom bil-ftajjar?
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/41914/coast_road_expropriated_land_earmarked_for_petrol_station#.U-KUWijBV6M
Piju Camilleri is back to the Golden Years of Lorry Sant.
I wonder what the Kullħadd editors Wenzu and Toni have to say about this.
Piju Camilleri IS Lorry Sant.
At the outset, one should ask how many of the MLP ministers, the chavs surrounding them, and the Taghna Lkoll crowd exploit these Africans and Philippine maids (slaves).
Once and if you get an honest answer, you will realize why no action will be taken.
I agree. However both these foreign workers and quite a number of Maltese workers are being exploited and both do not speak up for their rights.
Another consequence is that the Maltese feel they are not being employed because of the difference in wages and so they see the former as usurpers of available jobs.
Talk about prekarjat…
If it is not the law already, then all persons receiving visas to work in Malta should be provided with a booklet in their own language giving them a brief explanation of their rights under the law and a number that they can call to report abuse anonymously if need be.
Employers should be required to post an explanation of basic rights in a prominent position in the workplace with similar information.
dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/posters/minwage.pdf
[Daphne – Your link is incomplete.]
Some contractors employ immigrants, have them do all the back breaking work, and when wage day approaches they tell them to scurry along or be reported for working illegally without the proper documents.
IOM and Helena Dalli’s ministry launched this website (http://integration.org.mt/en/Pages/Home.aspx) on the 26th June. It seems this was a first step in the MSDC’s plans to offer a wider range of integration services to TCNs. The plans are to open an office as you have suggested.
They have also published an information leaflet in six languages other than English – Chinese, Arabic, Filippino, Hindi, Russian and Serbian. http://integration.org.mt/en/Pages/Leaflet.aspx
All of this was part financed by the EU’s Integration Fund. http://integration.org.mt/en/Pages/Background.aspx
The website and leaflet look like great resources althought they can be made more user friendly. How are they publicized and distributed?
Both males and females from the Philippines are called Filipino or Filipinos (plural) but no ‘a’ for females.
However, though grammatically incorrect it is a fact that ‘Filipina’ is very widely used in reference to a Filipino woman.
DIER is the Entity with offices in Valletta for such queries
https://dier.gov.mt/en/Pages/home.aspx
Although last time I sent them an email, which was 2 weeks ago, they did not reply.