Tung Chee-hwa declared his opposition to staff pay cuts yesterday as unions pleaded with Hongkong Telecom to postpone its across-the-board 10 per cent wage reduction.
A spokesman for Mr Tung said 'he does not encourage pay cuts' after the Chief Executive appealed to employers to be caring in times of economic hardship.
Mr Tung, speaking after meeting Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, said: 'It is important to have unity in the community, for all sectors to join hands to overcome the difficulties we are facing.
'Employers must be caring to their employees in this adjustment process in order to bring the best out of their employees.' His comments came as unions were appealing to Hongkong Telecom to freeze the pay cut for 13,800 staff, which comes into effect on November 1, for one year.
Representatives from the Hong Kong Telecom Employees Unions held an urgent meeting with the company's chief executive, Linus Cheung Wing-lam. However, the two-hour session failed to produce a breakthrough.
Employees later said they had not ruled out taking industrial action.