Public will pay for higher wages, warn builders
Building costs will be pushed to a new high as more workers get higher pay after the bar benders' marathon strike, the Hong Kong Construction Association warned yesterday.
Conrad Wong Tin-cheung, president of the association, said labour accounted for 40 per cent to 60 per cent of construction costs.
'Labour costs are expected to go up by 10 per cent. If workers' salaries go up by 10 per cent, total construction costs will go up by 4 per cent to 6 per cent.
'Construction costs in Hong Kong are already higher than other places. The increase in cost will be shifted to private property buyers, or taxpayers in the case of government projects. The city's competitiveness may also be affected.'
Painters and plasterers recently received pay rises of 5 per cent to 10 per cent, Mr Wong said, while plumbers were still in discussion with their employers about their annual pay rise. The daily wage for painters and plasterers is about HK$700 to HK$800.
'I think plumbers will solve their problem easily, as the workers and the employers have engaged in a rational dialogue to discuss the matter. A strike will not happen.'
Referring to the 36-day bar benders' strike, which ended on August 12, Mr Wong said everyone lost out.
'It is a lose-lose situation for all - workers, bar-bending contractors, main contractors, developers and society all have suffered from the crisis. I think we have all learned a good lesson from the strike.
'Society has paid a high price for the month-long industrial action. About 60 construction sites were affected by the incident and about 20 of them were government projects.
'It will take a few months for workers to catch up the construction progress which was delayed during the strike. Main contractors also have to bear higher costs to hire workers for longer periods to finish construction projects.'
Mr Wong said property developers had been considerate and understanding about the difficulties facing contractors, and so far no property developer had sought compensation from contractors for delays.
'In the past, the workers usually began their talks with their bosses in July about their annual salary adjustment. But the negotiation will begin in March next year, which means they will have nearly six months to hold talks about the issue, so I think they should have enough time to talk.
'The differences between the bar benders and the contractors are in fact not very big. I still wonder why the industrial action lasted for 36 days. I think more communication is needed so that both parties can solve problems through negotiation.'
Bar benders had insisted on an 8-hour day for HK$880 or HK$900 for 81/4 hours of work, while the contractors offered 81/4 hours of work for HK$880 in the last round of negotiations. The industrial action came to an end as workers finally accepted HK$860 for 8 hours of work.
