Following passage of the minimum wage law, debate is now focused on reaching an agreement on the initial level. The labour side favours an hourly rate of HK$33 while most employers have agreed on HK$28 - a slight improvement from the abysmal HK$20 put forward earlier by Tommy Cheung Yu-yan, who represents the catering industry in the Legislative Council.
Even Cheung now seems to agree we need to increase the level, although he insists that it should not exceed HK$24 per hour, as proposed by the Liberal Party, which represents business interests.
If we look closely at these proposed figures, it is easy to see who is being reasonable and who is not.
To be honest, the level proposed by the likes of Cheung is rather mean and nasty. The catering industry is notorious for paying some of the lowest wages. Employees have to toil long hours doing repetitive work, often in an unpleasant environment. Even though they are supposed to work eight hours a day, many are forced to put in overtime with very little extra pay. It's not uncommon for people in the industry to work 12 hours a day because of the split-shift system under which they are on standby for a few hours in the afternoon without pay.
If the minimum wage were set at HK$$20 an hour, it would add up to a monthly salary of around HK$4,160. For those in the catering sector, it would mean having to work at least eight hours a day, six days a week, without time off on public holidays. If that's not mean and nasty, what is?
Even if the rate was raised to HK$24 an hour, a monthly salary would remain below HK$5,000. The government is believed to be considering an hourly rate of HK$28, but that wouldn't make much difference; the monthly salary would still be below HK$6,000.
Some labour representatives have expressed support for an hourly rate of HK$30, which would raise the monthly wage to HK$6,240; HK$33 per hour would equate to HK$6,864.