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发表于 10-2-2011 22:30:52|来自：新加坡
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我上网查了一下，不是所有的中介都给女佣提工资，是其中17家中介给女佣提了工资。看来budgetmaid属于其中一家，所以其他小中介还是原来的价格。
Pay Hike as supply of maids dry up (23 Jan 2011)
Jan 23, 2011
Pay hike as supply of maids dries up
More agencies say they plan to increase salaries of new Indonesian domestic helpers
By Teh Joo Lin , Neo Wen Tong and Lim Yi Han
A week after news that 17 major maid agencies have banded together to raise the salaries of new Indonesian maids from $380 to $450, more agencies say they will follow suit.
If the drive gains traction, the pay hike - said to be the highest one-time increment for the Indonesians - could well set a new benchmark for Indonesian maids' salaries here.
Maid agencies say they have no choice: Supply of maids to Singapore has been drying up as more of them look to places that offer better pay like Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Singapore's stringent requirements - a minimum age requirement of 23 and an English entry test - have also not gone down well with potential maids.
Last week, news broke that 17 agencies - said to be major players - would be hiking the pay for Indonesian maids to ease the supply crunch.
Of the 30 maid agencies The Sunday Times interviewed, 18 said they would raise salaries of Indonesian maids. Eight said they were taking the wait-and-see approach, and four were not in favour.
These agencies said they were either pulling out of the Indonesian maid market or still discussing with their Indonesian labour suppliers before deciding.
Those who have jumped on the bandwagon include Comfort Employment director Benny Liew, who said seven in 10 customers want Indonesian maids.
'It's market forces. If there is someone who can offer a higher price and we don't match it, we will lose out,' he said.
Those agencies interviewed said they have already begun to supply maids on the higher pay or are in the process of informing prospective employers.
So far, employers have been willing to shell out the extra amount because the demand for Indonesian maids far outstrips the supply, they said.
Maids from Indonesia and the Philippines are the most sought after by employers, making up the majority of the estimated 196,000 maids here.
But other agencies and employers are suspicious of the move by the 17 agencies.
They doubt a $70 raise can reverse a long-running trend of declining supply and question if the move benefits the middlemen more than the maids - even though Mr Desmond Chin, group director of Nation Employment, one of the 17 agencies, has stated otherwise.
An agency operator, who declined to be named, wondered if the pay rise was a ploy to maintain profit margins ahead of the revised Employment Agencies Act to be implemented in April.
The new law puts the cap on the fee payable by the worker to the agency, to one month's salary per year of approved contract.
Opponents also suggested that the move was tantamount to price-fixing, given that the salary of the maid should be a private arrangement between her and her employer based on current market forces.
This is why the Association of Employment Agencies, as a trade body, cannot endorse the move, 'lest it be interpreted as an anti- competitive act', said president Shirley Ng.
When contacted, the Competition Commission of Singapore said it cannot say if any specific behaviour is anti-competitive without a thorough investigation. The spokesman did not say if an investigation was under way.
Mr Chin has rebutted the allegation of price-fixing.
He said yesterday: 'Even among the 17, not all of us agreed on $450. Each of us has our own agreements with the suppliers.'
The move did not imply that all Indonesian maids must have the same salary, which should be commensurate with their experience, abilities and qualifications, he added.
He also maintained that the move does not increase the profits of maid agencies, saying: 'It's for the good of the maids and the employers in the long term.'
Indonesian maids first became popular in the 1990s; they were an alternative source after the Philippines banned the deployment of maids in March 1995 over the hanging of Filipino maid Flor Contemplacion, who was convicted for the murders of her fellow maid and her four-year-old charge.
Supply has dwindled over the years as more families here look to domestic help, while other countries compete with Singapore for maids.
Employers in Hong Kong pay maids $650, while the Taiwanese pay them $800. In Singapore, their pay has gone from just $230 to $380 after more than a decade.
Recent developments have worsened the supply crunch.
A recent tightening of Philippine laws on citizens working abroad led to a plunge in the number of new maids from the Philippines, and forced some employers to switch to Indonesians.
Maids from countries such as Myanmar and Sri Lanka remain relatively unpopular, compounding the problem.
Speculation that the Indonesian government will lift a freeze on the supply of maids to Malaysia, imposed following several maid abuse cases, may also account for the latest pay hike.
When contacted, the Indonesian Embassy's labour attache Isnarti Hafan supported the move. The higher pay will shorten the time the maids need to clear their placement fees, she said.
Mr Rusjdi Basalam, secretary-general of the Indonesian Labour Exporters Association, said the move will attract higher interest and bolster supply.
'This would help turn around the currently declining interest of people wanting to work overseas. Media coverage on abuse on Indonesian migrant workers have scared them away,' he told The Sunday Times.
But the agencies themselves conceded that the new pay was still a long way from overseas salary levels, while the entry test and age requirement remained bottlenecks.
Maid agent Ronnie Toh, who said the pay increase might boost supply by 20 per cent, remarked: 'It'll be helpful, but I don't think it's enough.'
Association of Employment Agencies' Ms Ng said this latest move is a 'signal' that new maid sources such as Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos need to be considered.
She said: 'We cannot be relying on two main sources - Indonesia and the Philippines. Once these two countries turn off the tap, our economy will immediately suffer.'
Agency owners say the pay hike may lead to maids from other countries asking for higher pay and existing Indonesian maids threatening to terminate their contracts unless their employers top up their salaries.
Employers interviewed appear resigned to the prospect of paying more.
Business manager Joycelyn Ong, 30, who hired her Indonesian maid a month ago, said: 'If she really wants to leave, then I will have to give in and pay that extra $100, because finding a new maid is a lot of trouble and I have to pay the same amount anyway.'
But Indonesian maids interviewed said that money is not their sole concern.
Ms Sumarni, 39, who like many Indonesians, goes by just one name, earns $360 a month after a 12-year career but she is not complaining because she gets days off and enjoys a good relationship with her employer.
'It is still better to work for my employer again, because it's been so many years, and I won't know if my new employer will be good or not,' she said.
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