Dockers' unions upset at unchanged pay offer
Negotiations with pro-government unions hit the wall as contractors stick to 7pc pay rise and unionist calls meeting ‘meaningless’
Contractors' negotiations with pro-government unions bore no fruit yesterday, with one union calling a halt to the meeting as it said the contractors offered "nothing new".
The meeting was between two contractors - Everbest Port Services and Global Stevedoring Service - and the Federation of Trade Unions and the Federation of Hong Kong and Kowloon Labour Unions.
The workers under the umbrella of the Confederation of Trade Unions, who are on strike, were not represented.
FTU representatives called a halt to talks after two hours. One union member, So Pak-tsan, said the proposal the contractors put forward was no different to the one they suggested to the CTU on Thursday - raising dockers' salaries by about 7 per cent.
The union was seeking a 12 per cent pay rise for all workers, and said it would not accept the 7 per cent plan. It said the contractors were unprepared and hoped they could come up with something new before meeting them again.
Another representative called the meeting "meaningless". "I'm unhappy with the meeting. I don't think they have shown any sincerity," he said.
Everbest representative Dick Wong, however, told the media after the FTU representatives left that he found the two unions' demand for a 12 per cent pay rise "rational and more pragmatic", and his company would consider it "proactively".