Some of our fellow Saudis, both male and female, but especially housewives are upset. Their unhappiness stems from a decision by the Indonesian Manpower Ministry. The ministry has said it will not endorse any employment contract for Indonesian household workers seeking employment abroad if the contract does not explicitly state the following: That the working hours should not exceed 12 hours divided between day and night, that the monthly wage should be at least SR700 and that the worker should be given one day off each week. Our Saudi brothers and sisters think that such conditions amount to concessions granted to domestic workers and that these concessions will only “spoil” them.
I find it extremely unacceptable that anyone should object to these terms being included in the contract. Do those who object to the conditions set by the Indonesian government think a maid or driver should work 24 hours a day, seven days a week so that they can relax on their couches, giving orders to the unfortunate worker to do this and that?
Even machines made of steel need a time of rest. You can’t operate a machine non-stop and expect it to continue functioning without any problem. A time will come when the machine will stop if it is not properly oiled, cooled, examined and maintained. Some will surely say that I am telling only one side of the story and that I am ignoring the trouble domestic workers cause their employers. The same people will tell you that the workers, especially maids, resort to all kinds of tricks, including magic, theft and even physically harming a family member and then running away just to escape their employer and find work elsewhere. All that may be true, but this cannot and will not ever justify the abuse and violence these poor people continue to suffer at the hands of their employers and other members of their employers’ families.
A wrong committed by one individual does not justify being unjust to others. There are least a million domestic helpers, mostly maids, working and living in this country. How many of these commit theft or physical assault or even think of running away from their sponsors?
Those who want to deny these workers their basic rights forget one very important and very pertinent fact: That much of what is described as unacceptable behavior on the part of domestic workers is the direct result of the cruel treatment the workers receive from their employers. If they don’t want to employ domestic workers from Indonesia because they are unhappy with the contract terms, they should seek solutions to their problems elsewhere and stop complaining and expressing resentment in order to justify an unacceptable situation.
