KMB strike leader refuses to meet company management unless they recognise she represents group of drivers
Yip Wai-lam accuses her employers of not genuinely caring for the well-being of drivers, and says she has not yet decided on her next move
A KMB bus driver who led a strike calling for better work conditions said on Monday she would not attend a scheduled meeting with company management if she was treated as an individual employee rather than as a group representative.
The remarks by Yip Wai-lam, head of the recently formed “Full-time KMB Driver Alliance”, came after she launched a short-lived strike on Saturday night opposing the pay restructuring exercise announced by the company last week.
Another union, Staff Rights Association KMB, which represents around 400 members, backed Yip and warned that there could be further strikes and action if the company fired her.
Woman who led KMB drivers’ strike suspended from work
Yip claimed at least a dozen drivers joined Saturday’s industrial action, although traffic and bus operations across the city were mostly unaffected.
The strike ended after KMB agreed to meet Yip on Monday afternoon for talks.
But on a radio programme on Monday morning, Yip said she would not attend the scheduled session after learning that the company would only be meeting her as an individual, rather than as a representative of the alliance.
“I’m not going [to the meeting]. What’s the meaning of it if I’m just attending in the capacity as an individual staff member?” Yip said, adding that the company did not genuinely care about drivers’ well-being.
