Wai Ling is an Executive Committee member of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions as well as a high school secretary. She went from being completely against fighting for domestic workers’ rights to joining rallies and arguing for their membership in trade unions.
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“I fully support that domestic helpers have a right to change employers. I know that a domestic helper was very important in my life. My domestic helper wants a salary to improve her life. It’s the same. I have my work and I get my salary to improve my life also. The domestic helpers leaves their family, leave their children and go to another country for work—it’s not the same as me. I do not need to leave my daughter or leave my family. I am very lucky.
“The domestic workers go out for work in a stranger’s place. If the union wants to make some rules to help her fight for something, I fully support it. I think domestic helpers need to be covered by labour law. Surely, it is labour what they do. Many people are against the domestic helper because too many Hong Kong people can’t find a job. But the local labourers do not want to live in. The migrant domestic workers are not taking jobs.”