Productivity would drop if bosses failed to take care of their workers' needs, a university lecturer warned yesterday. Chan Wing-chiu, assistant management professor at the Polytechnic University, said that employers should not be concerned only about profits. Professor Chan was speaking at a forum to discuss pay rises during which unionists accused employers of suppressing wage increases. Ousted legislator Lee Cheuk-yan, general secretary of the Confederation of Trade Unions, criticised large-scale enterprises for taking the lead in keeping down pay. His statements were echoed by pro-Beijing unionist Chan Yuen-han, who said that employees had been wrongly blamed for increasing production costs. Ms Chan, a provisional legislator, said the rise in production costs was due to the high cost of renting offices and factory space.
