Minister's plea over import of workers
Despite a plea from the labour chief, employee representatives on the Labour Advisory Board are sticking to their refusal to process applications by companies to import workers.
They say the government has to promise to stop employers importing workers without consulting them.
Secretary for Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung Kin-chung invoked the plight of elderly and disabled people in care homes with the representatives yesterday.
He said that of 1,900 workers imported under the Supplementary Labour Scheme, which the advisory board vets, half worked in such facilities. 'Many of these workers' terms of stay will expire soon. If their contracts cannot be extended, the impact on these homes will be huge,' he said.
The labour representatives have refused to vet applications since Monday after finding that some companies were bypassing them and importing workers through the Immigration Department's general employment policy, which has a higher rate of approval.
'We will not resume the vetting. We will only do so when the government promises to improve the situation,' said board member Leung Chau-ting. 'Over the years, our board has approved only about half the applications as we believe we should protect the rights of workers in the city. The Immigration Department's scheme has no regard for labour rights and its screening process lacks transparency.'
Last year, the board approved 1,180 applications out of 2,340. At the same time, 26,881 mainland and overseas workers were allowed into Hong Kong under the general employment policy.
On paper, the policy allows entry only for people with skills while the board-vetted scheme processes low-skilled workers. But the representatives said workers imported under the two schemes were the same.
Cheung said: The Labour Department has already contacted the Immigration Department to see what can be done to answer their concern.'
