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Can migrant and immigrant workers demand democracy, and if they do, who will listen? This question arises, again, out of the news coverage of the Hong Kong protests, which has demonstrated an ambivalence, if not an anxiety, about where immigrant domestic workers fit in, or not, in the Umbrella Revolution<\/a>. At heart, the problem is that many find it difficult to understand that migrant and immigrant women workers, domestic workers, \u201chelpers\u201d want it all: decent work, dignity, and<\/em> democracy.<\/p>\n Hong Kong boasts one of the highest densities of domestic workers in the world<\/a>. The overwhelming majority are Filipina and Indonesian. They are famously underworked, overpaid, and often suffer the full gamut of abuse. They are also organized, into various national-ethnic associations as well as into pan-Asian domestic workers\u2019 associations, most notably the Asian Migrants\u2019 Coordinating Body. Typically, the \u201cnews\u201d about these women is [1] a story of abuse<\/a>, [2] a story of seeking higher wages<\/a>, [3] a story of getting slightly higher wages<\/a>, and then the cycle begins again<\/a>.<\/p>\n Abuse and wages pretty much cover the \u201cdomestic worker\u201d front. And that\u2019s why the Occupy Hong Kong protests have caused a ripple in the surface of the common sense. Where are the maids in Occupy Hong Kong? Where are domestic workers in the struggle for democracy?<\/p>\n Everywhere: \u201cOn 29 September<\/a>, the first day of the general strike, unions representing dock workers, bus drivers, beverage workers, social workers, domestic workers, migrant domestic workers from Indonesia and the Philippines, radio producers, and teachers took to the streets. They are not only protesting against the police suppression of the students. They are not only campaigning for universal suffrage. They are also demonstrating a more down-to-earth wish: social justice.\u201d<\/p>\n Domestic workers, like 60-year-old Filipina domestic worker Vicky Casia<\/a>, understand that political as well as economic wealth and well being in Hong Kong depend on the labor of migrant women workers: \u201cWe are proud of what they are doing right now. This is history. It would be another achievement for us, if soon they would also include in their fight the rights for migrant workers.\u201d<\/p>\n Domestic workers were at the demonstrations, openly, proudly and happily, as their photos show<\/a>. Likewise, domestic workers formally supported the protesters<\/a>: \u201cThe Asian Migrants Coordinating Body (AMCB), is one with the people of Hong Kong in condemning the brutal response of the Hong Kong government, through its Police Force, to the protest \u2013 predominantly youth and students \u2013 calling for full universal suffrage in choosing the city\u2019s Chief Executive \u2026 The movement for universal suffrage has been gaining steam for the past years and is further being propelled by the government\u2019s lack of effective response to the problems besetting many of the Hong Kong people. Cuts in social service, disregard of the condition of workers, and the prioritization of the government of the interests of businesses, especially in times of crisis have contributed greatly to the desire of the HK people to have a more direct say in the election of the Chief Executive \u2026The right of the people to assemble and protest is being wantonly violated; and activists for democratic rights cannot stand by and watch \u2026 We are one with the people of Hong Kong in the call to stop the repression against their democratic rights. We call for the immediate release of the arrested protesters. We call for the HK government to respect the people\u2019s rights \u2026 We extend our solidarity to those who uphold the people\u2019s rights and democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n