Playing hardball

MORE THAN a quarter of a million Filipino domestic helpers are expected to be displaced with the decision of Saudi Arabia to freeze hiring as a result of a deadlock between the Philippines and the Middle East kingdom over salaries and working conditions. The alarm has been raised by Manila-based recruitment agencies that have criticized the Philippine government for not anticipating the backlash from Riyadh, which is in a similar deadlock with Jakarta over Indonesian domestics.

The deadlock as expected arose from disagreement over the floor wage: Manila demands $400, Riyadh half of that. But even more fundamental are disagreements over worker’s rights and conditions. Riyadh objects to a requirement of the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act that the Philippine Embassy certifies that domestic workers’ rights in the kingdom are protected. Saudi Arabia is also smarting from the report of the Department of Foreign Affairs that it has a poor record of protecting the labor rights of domestics.

Emmanuel Geslani of the Philippine manpower recruitment industry has criticized Manila for playing hardball with Riyadh and putting in peril the livelihood of tens of thousands of Filipinos. He said that as an immediate result of the hiring freeze, some 30,000 to 50,000 Filipino domestics who come home every year after finishing their contracts would not see their contracts renewed. That’s 30,000 to 50,000 immediately added to the statistic on joblessness.

Geslani also dismissed a Malacañang spokesman’s statement that other countries would accept Filipino domestics displaced from Saudi Arabia. “It’s another figment of the imagination of the Aquino administration, which failed to anticipate the serious repercussions of the hardball stance of the labor department and the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency during negotiations for deployment terms,” he said.

Implicit in the criticism of Geslani and members of the manpower export establishment is that the government cannot sacrifice workers’ livelihood over abstract rights that may be neither here nor there. But an even more crucial issue is whether government is merely using worker’s rights and conditions in order to bargain for higher compensation and other economic benefits for Filipino workers.

Let it be said outright that the $200 floor wage counter-proposal of Saudi Arabia is shockingly small. Middle-class homes in Metro Manila are already paying the peso-equivalent of that sum—or something close to that—to their own household help. Based alone on export manpower prices and supply-demand dynamics, the counter-proposal would work against Saudi Arabia since even other countries competing with the Philippines for a share of the pie in the kingdom would hardly find the pay scale attractive.

Moreover, Filipinos who work as domestics in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere are educated: many of them have college degrees or have had college education, which should contribute much to the quality of their services. In addition, Saudi Arabian homes will attest to the loyalty of Filipino domestics and the quality of their services. Filipino household help deserve fairer compensation.

But higher compensation must not be made to sugarcoat poor or abusive working conditions. While some Filipino maids report good to tolerable working conditions in the Middle East, there have also been reports of domestic slavery. Many domestics are reportedly made to work seven days a week with little food or rest. Some are locked up in rooms and not allowed to go out. They are forced to work for years until their contracts expire. Some have complained of physical and sexual abuse.

Reactions from the government to the job freeze indicate that Manila would hold out until it gets a bigger offer. Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration head Carmelita Dimzon said the government would be intensifying its “Balik-Pinay! Balik Hanapbuhay!” project to “transform the domestics into entrepreneurs.”

But government programs are notoriously mismanaged and inadequate to cope with the specter of OFW displacement. Worse, they seem like part of an effort to put up a brave front and strengthen the Philippines’ bargaining hand. Manila may be playing hardball at the expense of worker’s rights. This would be unconscionable. The Philippines cannot compromise workers’ rights and conditions in its push for higher compensation. Manila should make it clear to Riyadh that workers’ rights are paramount, and they govern the search for just compensation for Filipino domestics.