Workers offer Patten a bitter taste

AS the summit began, Mr Patten was given a bitter squash, representing workers' bitter lives.

The squash was handed over by Chan Yuen-han from the 210,000 strong pro-China Federation of Trade Unions.

The majority of the summit was taken up by speeches from the Government, three employers' representatives and three unionists, followed by about an hour's floor discussion.

Unionists slammed the summit as unrepresentative and biased towards employers.

Nine of the 14 speakers chosen from the floor were employer representatives, and the remaining five were labour representatives, said legislator and trade unionist Lee Cheuk-yan.

He said it was unfair that all attending representatives did not have a chance to speak.