Keeping it to a minimum: bosses standing firm against rise in Hong Kong’s wage floor as they get set to lock horns with unions
Business owners want any hike in the minimum wage to be less than inflation under the current review, but unions are seeking up to HK$41 so workers ‘can live with dignity’
Members of the Minimum Wage Commission are set to lock horns in their final meeting on Friday to determine how much – if at all – Hong Kong’s statutory minimum wage will go up.
Representatives of employees and employers sitting on the commission have been at loggerheads in previous meetings during negotiations on a new level. It now stands at HK$32.50 an hour.
Frustrated by the small increases in the last two reviews, union representatives are demanding that the level, which is reviewed at least every two years, go up to somewhere between HK$36 and HK$41 so that low earners “can live with dignity”, a source with knowledge of the commission’s work said.
But those representing the business sector want the level frozen, arguing that their business costs have already soared since the HK$28 level first became effective in 2011.
“Chairman Jat Sew-tong will throw a figure at the members in the final meeting. Everyone will then give their views and try to strike a balance,” the source said.