PH-Saudi talks on maid’s pay fail

Despite promises of “labor reforms” from Saudi officials, the suspension in the deployment of Filipino domestic helpers to Saudi Arabia remains with Saudi and Philippine labor officials failing to get agreement on the minimum salary level for such workers.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz met with her Saudi counterpart, Adel M. Fakeih, on the sidelines of the ongoing 100th International Labor Organization conference in Geneva, but that no agreement was concluded, Labor Undersecretary Danilo Cruz said on Tuesday.

Last March, the Saudi government suspended the deployment of Filipino maids to the oil-rich kingdom after the Philippine government set the minimum monthly salary for domestics at $400.

The Saudis asked that the rate be halved but Philippine labor officials said the $400 mandatory monthly wage cannot be lowered as this was the rate being implemented not just in Saudi Arabia but also in other countries where Filipino domestics are employed.

In a statement following her meeting with Fakeih, Baldoz said there was a need to improve the “system of protection within existing and new laws for low-skilled workers, including household service workers, in both countries.”

She said the Saudis had promised to implement labor reforms, insisting that “a new era of change and progress” in labor and employment had begun in the kingdom, where at least one million Filipino overseas workers are deployed.

“The new measures will benefit both Saudi Arabia and foreign workers, including OFWs, who constitute an important segment of the Saudi workforce,” Baldoz quoted Fakeih as saying.

The labor secretary said that the proposed Saudi reforms include the recognition of “intermediary hiring firms” that will serve as sponsors and coemployers of workers and who will be responsible for their welfare and protection; a “mandatory, broad-range insurance” for domestics with the premium to be paid for by employers; a new remittance scheme to reduce remittance costs; and the expansion of e-government facilities, including the creation of 24/7 Tagalog hotlines for complaints from OFWs.

Baldoz said she also discussed with Fakeih the hiring of nurses and his possible visit to the Philippines this year.