Hong Kong unionists walk out over refusal of bosses to discuss legislation on standard working hours
Employee representatives charge that bosses reneged on deal to discuss legislation on standard work, may boycott next meeting
Six employee representatives taking part in discussions on standard working hours stormed out of a meeting yesterday, as they complained that employer representatives failed to support legislation to regulate working hours.
The six also threatened not to take part in the next meeting if the committee continued to discuss using contracts instead of legislation to set working hours and overtime compensation.
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Committee chairman Dr Leong Che-hung said the government-appointed advisory panel did not rule out legislating on working hours. He said he hoped the six representatives would return for the next meeting, but he added that the session would be held even without them.
The committee, which was set up in 2013, is expected to start a second round of consultation in December and present final proposals to the government before winding up in March next year.
Chau Siu-chung, treasurer of the Federation of Hong Kong and Kowloon Labour Unions and one of the six, said the employer representatives previously agreed to continue discussions on the basis of legislating working hours, but yesterday changed their minds and only supported using contracts signed between bosses and workers stating working hours and conditions.
"The employer representatives backtracked on their promise and said there was no agreement," said Chau. "We walked out because we feel that there is no point continuing the discussions without the agreement."