FOR A DOZEN years, Mr Chan has been working on casual terms as a waiter in the banquet rooms of some of Hong Kong's fanciest hotels. He used to tread the plush carpets at facilities managed by global chains, including the Conrad International Hong Kong. Lately, though, the 41-year-old has been working in various club houses and at The Excelsior Hotel.
It's a tough way to earn a living, complains Mr Chan, who declined to give his full name for fear of being identified by his employer. Not only is the work irregular, slowing to a trickle during the low season, but also casual workers are often treated poorly, both in their terms of employment and by staff who have regular employment contracts.
'Everybody feels free to be unreasonably harsh with casual workers, from service managers to other waiters with long-term contracts,' Mr Chan says angrily. 'They're always using foul language with us, even in front of customers. They don't treat us like human beings.'
During the low season, when there are few auspicious days on the Chinese calendar and so few wedding banquets, Mr Chan might work only seven days in a month, earning less than $1,400.
Another casual worker, Mr Chow, 35, who also declined to give his full name and is now working for The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong, echoes Mr Chan's grievances. 'Many hotels are very stingy towards casual workers,' he says. ''Often, we are paid only $47.50 an hour. And most of the time, we don't even know if we'll have work the next day.'
Mr Chow, who has been waiting banquet tables for 16 years, says Hong Kong's hotel industry has depended on casual workers from its infancy. But about three years ago, he and Mr Chan say, the hotels started tightening their employment practices, limiting casuals to no more than three consecutive weeks of no more than 18 hours each.
