Domestic helpers willing to take a pay cut will be showcased today by Provisional Urban Councillor Jennifer Chow Kit-bing, who wants maids' wages cut by 20 per cent.
About 10 domestic helpers have agreed to tell reporters they back a reduced salary in order to keep their jobs, Mrs Chow's assistant, Denise Chan Fu-yee, said yesterday.
In September, Mrs Chow suggested maids' pay be cut from $3,860 a month to $3,088.
She claimed many middle-class families had suffered pay cuts in the economic downturn and could not afford to pay the current minimum wage.
She said maids also wanted this because many of them had had their contracts terminated by employers who could no longer afford them.
Nina Sevano, 33, one of the maids agreeing to speak at the press conference, said: 'It doesn't matter if they cut the salary by 20 per cent. It's enough for us to support our families in the Philippines. The peso has devalued.