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Hong Kong national security law (NSL)
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Student activists co-organising the referendum on the national security law. Photo: Jonathan Wong

National security law: Hong Kong activists hope to get 60,000 labour union members to vote on strike

  • Organisers say that if 60 per cent of 60,000 workers vote for action to oppose the legislation, they will go ahead
  • But Government Employees Association says unions calling for strike violate job rules, while Hospital Authority chairman warns of follow-up measures

Hong Kong activists are hoping that at least 60,000 labour union members will come out to vote for a strike in an unofficial referendum on the proposed national security law on Saturday, even though the unions that have agreed to take part have only 14,000 members.

The referendum is being organised by 30 unions, including the Union for New Civil Servants, the Social Workers’ General Union and the Public Relations and Communications Union. The Secondary School Students Action Platform, backed by political party Demosisto, is also one of the organisers.

Backers said that if 60,000 or more workers came out to vote and if 60 per cent of them voted for a strike to oppose the proposed legislation, they would go ahead with an industrial action.

But the 30 unions organising the referendum only have about 14,000 members in total. The organisers hoped more people would come out on Saturday to sign up to become members and cast their ballots.

Activists vow to press ahead with vote on striking over national security law

“I am very confident about this,” said Vic Tse, chairwoman of the Public Relations and Communications Union. “Hongkongers never disappointed us in the past year.”

She said the organisers decided to set the threshold at 60,000 because the more people taking part in the action, the less chance of retribution from their employers.

The Secondary School Students Action Platform said high school students could vote at designated booths or through a website. If at least 10,000 students cast their votes, with no less than 5,000 votes being actual ballots cast at booths, and if 60 per cent of the voters supported a class boycott, organisers would go ahead with it.

Some 30 unions are taking part in the referendum over the controversial legislation. Photo: Jonathan Wong

A total of 36 voting stations will be set up across the city, 13 of them being the offices of district councillors. The voting will be conducted from 10am to 8pm. Some of the stations will use electronic voting platforms while others will provide actual ballots.

Michael Ngan Mo-chau, of the Union for New Civil Servants, said government employees had the right to vote and express their views on the legislation.

Beijing’s offices in Hong Kong take aim at organisers of class boycott over legislation

“Civil servants are also Hong Kong residents. In the face of the national security law, which will have widespread implications in the city, we have the right and responsibility to express our concerns,” Ngan said.

Last month, the Chinese legislature, the National People’s Congress, passed a resolution for a national security law tailor-made for Hong Kong, which under its current draft outlines the crimes of secession, subversion of state power, terrorist activities and collusion with foreign and external forces to endanger national security, along with their criminal penalties.

Critics have questioned the legality of Beijing’s move, saying once the law is promulgated, the “one country, two systems” principle will be replaced with a “one country, one system” model.

Critics say the law will replace the “one country, two systems” principle with a “one country, one system” model. Photo: Bloomberg

Earlier this month, Beijing’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office accused Joshua Wong Chi-fung and others of exploiting pupils with an attempt to derail the legislation. On another occasion, the central government’s liaison office lauded Hong Kong education minister Kevin Yeung Yun-hung for urging schools to take a hardline approach in disciplining those who boycott class.

The city’s government has accused the Union for New Civil Servants of tarnishing the reputation of the public service, with a spokesman saying government workers should commit to political neutrality and serve the government and the chief executive with “total loyalty”.

On Thursday, the Government Employees Association said the groups calling for strikes were violating the Civil Service Code that required public servants to be politically neutral.

Is Hong Kong heading for class boycotts and general strikes over the national security law?

Meanwhile, the Hospital Authority chairman Henry Fan Hung-ling said any strike would not be accepted as it would affect health care services and patients’ rights.

“The strike this time is a political topic. It is something we absolutely cannot accept,” Fan said.

“Some people want to use strikes to threaten the authority to agree with their political views. I can say clearly that this will not work. If a strike happens, we would follow up seriously with the existing mechanism.”

He added that bringing political views to public hospitals would affect services that were supposed to be equal for all.

Regarding a strike of hospital workers in February, he said the authority had hired a team of lawyers, including senior counsels and barristers, to follow up on the matter.

Additional reporting by Elizabeth Cheung

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Activists hope 60,000 unionists will vote on strike
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