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Martin Wong

Momentum for a statutory minimum wage in Hong Kong has increased after  a second executive councillor in less than two weeks publicly criticised the government's voluntary minimum-wage initiative.
The criticism during a radio interview yesterday by Cheng Yiu-tong, who is also president of the Federation of Trade Unions,  came after similar comments from Executive Council convenor Leung Chun-ying, who said he supported a statutory minimum wage for cleaners and security guards.
Mr Leung also described the 'wage protection movement' as a failure.
Mr Cheng said unskilled workers faced problems  providing themselves with  basic necessities and rising food prices had hit them especially hard.
'With increasing transportation costs, the gap between wealthy and poor people is getting bigger and bigger and the risk of social unrest is also increasing,' he said.
Mr Cheng said he had spoken to  Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen  about the issue.
'He  knew what was going on,' Mr Cheng said, adding that the introduction of a  statutory minimum wage law would not simply address  an economic problem but also a social one.
The government should legislate for a minimum wage as soon as possible, he said, because unskilled workers' wages were decreasing continuously due to supply and demand problems in the labour market.
Unlike Mr Leung, who said a statutory minimum wage should cover just cleaners and security guards, Mr Cheng said consideration should be given to the nature of jobs when the government began work on the relevant legislation.
But Secretary for Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung Kin-chung  said the wage-protection movement still had six months to run before a final review of its effectiveness was done in October.
'I think it is unfair to announce that the scheme is a failure at this stage,' he said.
Mr Cheung rejected suggestions it would be too late for the government to impose a statutory minimum wage when and if the  voluntary initiative  was found to be deficient.
The government had already begun to prepare the legislation, including a mechanism to determine the minimum wage and how to adjust wages later, he said.
Mr Tsang, speaking  in Wuhan , Hubei , reiterated that a minimum-wage law would be enacted if the voluntary scheme failed.
Cheap labour
Labour unions say the average monthly wage for cleaners, in HK dollars, is $5,200



Second Exco member joins call for  statutory minimum wage